Tom
Walters’ Santiva outgamed favored Astrology and Major Gain
in a stretch-long duel to win the 84th running of the $165,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes
(GII) for 2-year-olds by a half-length on Saturday afternoon at Churchill
Downs.
Ridden
for the first time by Shaun Bridgmohan, Santiva was content to sit just off the
pace set by Prideofthechapter, who led the field of seven through
fractions of :24.29 and :49.03. Astrology, ridden by Garrett Gomez,
tracked the leaders in third while Major Gain, ridden by Robby Albarado, raced
in the next tier.
Leaving
the backstretch, Santiva took over from Prideofthechapter and was quickly
joined by Astrology. At the head of the stretch, Albarado swung to the inside
of Cane Garden Bay with Major Gain and cut to the rail to join the
leaders.
The
trio raced as a team to the wire with Santiva, a Kentucky-bred son of Giant’s
Causeway out of the Smarten mare Slide, drawing away late to complete the
distance on a fast main track in 1:45.31 to register his first victory in four
starts. Astrology finished a head in front of Major Gain.
Now
trained by Eddie Kenneally, Santiva increased his earnings to $195,254 with
Saturday’s check of $100,254. Santiva had run second in his previous start, the
Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland on Oct. 9 and now has a record of 1-2-1.
Santiva
returned $11.60, $4.20 and $2.80. Astrology returned $2.60 and $2.10 with Major
Gain paying $2.40 to show. It was another 4 ½ lengths back to Halo’s Thunder,
who was followed in order by Cane
Garden Bay,
Enable and Prideofthechapter.
KENTUCKY JOCKEY CLUB QUOTES
Shaun
Bridgmohan (jockey, Santiva, winner):
“He showed effort today. I have known he is a nice little horse. He just ran a
phenomenal race today. Every time I asked him for a little more, he just gave
it to me. He kept grinding it out and fighting all the way to the wire. The
more I asked the more he fought. It has been a very nice weekend.”
Eddie
Kenneally (trainer, Santiva, winner):
“He dug in and was courageous. He ran awesome, really. They came to
him at the eighth pole and looked like they might even go by him. They
put him in a little tight, and that’s when he really fought back and he
regained momentum and was drawing away from them at the wire.”
Q:
Was his last race in the Breeders’ Futurity, in your eyes, even better than it
might have looked …“He found himself
very far back in his last race. He didn’t break that day. He broke
sharp today. He broke sharp today and put himself in the race
early. The jock didn’t put him in the race. The horse wanted to run
today. He had running on his mind and got the job done.”
Q:
It’s November and six months away there’s a very big race here. Is he a
legitimate Kentucky Derby horse? “Oh sure, he’s got the pedigree. There’s all the
stamina in the world in his pedigree. He’s got the profile for the race
here in May.
Q:
What was your thinking about running him on the dirt? In his first race
he was third on dirt, but was pretty soundly beaten before running back on
grass and Polytrack in his next two starts. Was there any worry about
bringing him back to dirt? “We knew
going long that he’d be fine on the dirt, he’d have no problem going long on
dirt. He trains here and this is where we’re based, so this was a logical
choice.”
Q.
Is it exciting to think about bringing him back here (for the Derby) in six months with the way he ran
today? “Absolutely. That’s the
goal, for sure. “We’re excited about it.”
Q:
Any thoughts on what your next step might be with him? “There some races in Florida with him this winter, so we’ll look
at some of those and take it from there. We’ll just give him a little
break now and get him back to the races in January or February. We’ll
give him an easy time in December and focus on next year then.”
Garrett
Gomez (jockey, Astrology, second): “I
had a real good trip. I tried to let Shaun (Bridgmohan, jockey) carry me
around. The one time my horse runs a mile and a sixteenth he comes off the
bridle early on me. I tried to use Shaun as a target and he carried me. And
when we decided to come home all the horses came home really well and I just
got out-sprinted to the wire. I liked the way he ran today.”
Steve
Asmussen (trainer, Astrology, second): “We’re disappointed he didn’t win under
those circumstances, but he’s learning. He’s distracted so easily by
stuff.”
Q:
His pedigree, being by A.P. Indy would indicate he’ll get better as he gets
older … “We’ll see. One thing
I’ve figured out this year is nothing is guaranteed.”
Q:
Did you lose any faith in him today? Do you think he still has the
potential to be a pretty good horse? “He’s
got to put it together. The competition is going to get better, so he’s
got to get better.”
Wayne
Catalano (trainer, Major Gain, third):
“I’m happy with his performance. I would’ve liked to win, but he ran a big
race. We’ll see how it goes from here.”