Anthony A. Lenci's Catalina Red took his game to the big leagues Saturday, pulling off a 14-1 upset in the contentious GII Churchill Downs S–his first start under the care of Jorge Navarro, who won the race in 2015 with Private Zone (Macho Uno). Catalina Red, off the board in two previous graded stakes tries as a sophomore in 2015, was coming off a victory in Tampa Bay's restricted Hilton Garden Inn/Hampton Inn and Suites Sprint S. for trainer Chad Stewart.
Away without incident from the outside stall, the chestnut kept close tabs on the leaders from a two-wide fourth as Limousine Liberal (Successful Appeal) ticked off an opening quarter in :22.24 with Holy Boss (Street Boss) locked on his outer flank. Maintaining that position through a half in :44.64, Catalina Red ranged up outside the leaders rounding the bend and poked his nose in front in early stretch. Shaking clear from the pacesetters in midstretch, he held off a late bid from Calculator to score by a length, stopping the timer in a snappy 1:20.79. Kobe's Back broke tardily from the rail and mustered a late rally to complete the trifecta.
3-1 favorite Speightster, away from the races since running his undefeated record to three-for-three with a score in the GII Dwyer S. last May, pressed the pace and tired to report home eighth, 14 lengths behind the winner.
“This is my race,” Navarro said. “I have to be honest with you, I've only been training this horse for a month. [Anthony Lenci] asked me to take him. He said, 'I want to give this horse a chance. Will you train him?' I want to say that Chad Stewart did a fabulous job with this horse.”
Under Stewart's training, Catalina Red made a name for himself with a pair of convincing scores in the Inaugural S. and Pasco S. at Tampa in December 2014, the latter score coming by a neck over X Y Jet (Kantharos), subsequent multiple graded stakes winner and 2016 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen runner-up for Navarro. Sent to the sidelines following a tiring fifth-place run in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. one month later, the colt returned to action with a 2 1/4-length tally in Gulfstream's restricted Jackson Bend S. Aug. 8 prior to finishing a non-factor seventh in Parx's GIII Gallant Bob S. Sept. 19.
In his comeback race at Tampa last month, the 4-year-old rated just off of quick fractions and pounced en-route to a measured one-length triumph–an effort that gave his connections confidence to climb the class ladder on Derby day.
“The owner had a lot of confidence in this horse,” Navarro continued. “We only had a month to get him ready for this race, but he trained great for it. We'll see how he comes out of the race before we decide where he'll go next.”
Initially acquired by Nick De Meric for $55,000 as an OBS August yearling, Catalina Red was re-sold for $71,000 to Lenci as an OBS April juvenile offering. His stakes-placed dam, Lovely Dream, produced the stakes-placed sprinter Whiskey Bravo (Fusaichi Pegasus) and is also responsible for a yearling colt by Alternation. She was most recently bred back to Uncle Mo.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
CHURCHILL DOWNS S.-GII, $500,000, CD, 5-7, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:20.79, ft.
1–@CATALINA RED, 118, c, 4, by Munnings">Munnings
1st Dam: Lovely Dream (SP, $148,329), by Freud
2nd Dam: Saralil, by Saratoga Six
3rd Dam: Little Cille, by Damascus
($55,000 Ylg '13 OBSAUG; $71,000 2yo '14 OBSAPR).
O-Anthony A. Lenci; B-France Weiner & Irwin J. Weiner (FL);
T-Jorge Navarro; J-Javier Castellano. $297,600. Lifetime
Record: 10-5-1-2, $469,885. *1/2 to Whiskey Bravo (Fusaichi
Pegasus), SP, $231,105.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+.[bullet ad=”demericsales-purchaseandgraduate”][bullet ad=”selectsales-shell”]2–Calculator, 118, c, 4, In Summation–Back to Basics, by
Alphabet Soup. ($132,000 2yo '14 OBSAPR). O-Richard C. Pell;
B-Ocala Stud (FL); T-Peter Miller. $96,000.
3–Kobe's Back, 120, h, 5, Flatter–Well, by Well Decorated.
($60,000 Ylg '12 FTKOCT; $480,000 2yo '13 OBSMAR). O-C R K
Stable; B-Joanne R. Mummert (KY); T-Peter Eurton. $48,000.[bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-graduate”]Margins: 1, 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 14.10, 6.20, 3.60.
Also Ran: Salutos Amigos, Holy Boss, Limousine Liberal, Squadron A, Speightster, Barbados. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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