Similar to elite sports teams, good horses find a way to win when perhaps not at their very best or when circumstances conspire against them. Facing arguably the toughest foe of his career in the form of 2016 Eclipse Award finalist A. P. Indian, Whitmore never appeared truly comfortable for the majority of Saturday's GIII Maryland Sprint H., but he nevertheless summoned the necessary response in the stretch and willed himself to the wire first.
Looking to remain perfect in seven starts around one turn, Whitmore jumped with them and was-somewhat surprisingly-part of the early pace dust up along with A. P. Indian setting the fractions along the inside while Holy Boss (Street Boss) argued three deep. The first quarter-mile was timed in :22.97, strong enough given the absence of a significant run-up, but by the time they'd reached the entrance to the turn, Awesome Banner had joined the fray out wide while Whitmore looked to be spinning his wheels a bit back in fourth. A. P. Indian retained the call off the final corner, but Ricardo Santana Jr. was all over the favorite, who was traveling more laterally than he was linear, and was four or five off the inside with a furlong and a half to run. Still third with a gap to bridge passing the eighth pole, Whitmore knuckled down and surged past A. P. Indian in the waning strides. Awesome Banner, who perhaps poked his head in front between calls, was a gallant third.
“I'm happy we came over,” said winning trainer Ron Moquett. “I said that it was going to take a track record to win this, but that was before the rain yesterday. I know he's a fast horse and he's running against very fast horses. I've got a lot of confidence in Ricardo. I told him that he was on the best horse and ride him with confidence. I know how he finishes. He closes like a freight train. Our goal is the [GI] Breeders' Cup Sprint.”
Placed in the GIII Southwest S., GII Rebel S. and GI Arkansas Derby–the latter a third behind future GI Belmont S. winner Creator (Tapit)–Whitmore beat just one home in the GI Kentucky Derby and it's been nothing but blue skies since. Winner of allowance races at Aqueduct last December and at his Oaklawn base Jan. 15, the chestnut aired by six in the Mar. 11 Hot Springs S. and thrashed his rivals by nearly four lengths in the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. Apr. 15.
Pedigree Notes:
Whitmore is one of seven graded winners for his longer-winded sire, winner of the 2003 GI Breeders' Cup Classic and 2004 G1 Dubai World Cup, and his only graded winner on dirt under a mile. Pleasantly Perfect was sold to stand in Turkey in 2014. After aborting her Animal Kingdom foal in 2015, Melody's Spirit produced a filly by Atreides (Medaglia d'Oro) last year and was most recently bred back to that Hill 'n' Dale stallion.
Saturday, Pimlico
MARYLAND SPRINT S.-GIII, $150,000, PIM, 5-20, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.90, gd.
1–WHITMORE, 124, g, 4, by Pleasantly Perfect
1st Dam: Melody's Spirit, by Scat Daddy
2nd Dam: Capture the Cat, by Tale of the Cat
3rd Dam: Ten Flags, by Seattle Slew
O-Southern Springs Stables, R. LaPenta & Head of Plains
Partners LLC; B-John Liviakis (KY); T-Ron Moquett; J-Ricardo
Santana, Jr. $90,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW & GISP,
12-7-2-1, $967,000. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”war-horse-place-double-bullet-whitmore”][bullet ad=”bsw-bloodstock-private-purchase-for-head-of-plains”]2–A. P. Indian, 118, g, 7, Indian Charlie–Ender's Sister, by A.P.
Indy. O/B-Green Lantern Stables, LLC (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour.
$30,000.
3–Awesome Banner, 118, c, 4, Awesome of Course–Miranda
Stands, by Zamindar. O/B-Jacks or Better Farm Inc. (FL);
T-Kenneth Decker. $15,000.
Margins: HF, HD, 5 3/4. Odds: 1.20, 1.60, 31.80.
Also Ran: Holy Boss, Laki, Classy Class, Sonny Inspired, Never Gone South, Rockinn On Bye.
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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