Little Mike rated kindly under Ramon Dominguez and surprised favorite Point of Entry and defending champ St Nicholas Abbey in Saturday's Grade I Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita Park.
Turbo Compressor set legitimate fractions for a turf marathon with Little Mike biding his time along the inside.
Little Mike struck the front in the lane and won his third grade one turf route of the year. He also captured the Arlington Million and Turf Classic.
Point of Entry finished second and St Nicholas Abbey checked in third. Trailblazer made a menacing move turning for home but could not sustain his run and ended up fourth.
Little Mike, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Dale Romans, paid $36.60 to win.
Quotes:
Ramon Dominguez (jockey, Little Mike, 1st) – “I couldn’t
commit to being on the lead (because of the distance). I did get a great trip
right off the leaders. When I asked him to run, he gave me a great kick.”
Dale Romans (trainer, Little Mike, 1st) – “Our first
reaction after the race in New York (Turf Classic) was to shorten him up, but
he had been trying to stretch him out all year so we decided to stick to our
plan. We talked over the race last night and thought those two horses (Turbo
Compressor and Optimizer) would be gunning for the lead. We were going to try
to sit right off of them. He showed he could rate. He’s always been an
overachiever but he does deserve to be champion.”
John Velazquez (jockey, Point of Entry,
2nd) – “I didn’t get the position I wanted. I got
slammed coming out of the gate. And the horse in front of me kept coming in and
out. By the time I got out it was too late. He (Point of Entry) was by far the
best horse in the race.”
Jennifer Patterson (assistant to trainer
Shug McGaughey, Point of Entry, 2nd)
– “He was further back today with that quick pace. He’s a very versatile horse
and he’ll do what you ask him. It’s a shorter stretch here and he had a lot to
make up. With this fast turf, they don’t come right back to you. With the
fractions that fast, I wasn’t unhappy with his position. Maybe he could have
moved a little earlier, but that’s easy to say now. It was a tough beat, but
he’s still a very nice horse. He ran his heart out and tried as hard as he
could, but just came up a little short. We’ve had a great year with him and
hopefully we’ll another great year with him next year.”
Joseph O’Brien (jockey, St Nicholas Abbey, 3rd) – “The trip was a good one for me. He
relaxed well off a fast pace. When I asked him, he responded. We had to go a
bit wide on the turn, but nonetheless he ran very well.”
Aidan O’Brien (trainer, St Nicholas Abbey, 3rd) – “He gave a good solid run. He didn’t
quite pick up like he did last year. He had a hard race in the Arc. He came
with a nice run. He did nothing wrong and it’s great to be third.”
Christophe Lemaire (jockey, Shareta, 5th) – “They went a
good pace throughout the race. She made a good run but she couldn’t get them.”
Frankie Dettori (jockey, Cogito, 7th) – “He’s run ok and
he finished mid-division.”
Jamie Spencer (jockey, Treasure Beach, 10th) – “They went a good pace
and I couldn’t really get him to where I wanted.”