Andthewinneris rallied far back and earned his first graded win in the $350,000 Castle & Key Bourbon (G2) for 2-year-olds Sunday at Keeneland.
The colt from the first crop of Oscar Performance covered 1 1/16 miles turf in 1:41.27, a stakes record time, and became the first graded stakes winner for his Central Kentucky sire.
Andthewinneris bided his time in ninth in the field of 12 as Panama set the early tempo tracked by Deer District, who moved to the lead in early stretch. Andthewinneris, ridden by Flavien Prat, swing six wide into the stretch and rallied strongly past rivals to get the victory. He returned $10.18.
Deer District held on for second, and Really Good finished third.
With the win for trainer Wayne Catalano and owner-breeder Susan Moulton, Andthewinneris earned an automatic, fees-paid berth to the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) Nov. 4 at Keeneland via the Breeders' Cup Challenge 'Win and You're In' series.
Andthewinneris entered off a with a pair of thirds in stakes company, the Bashford Manor July 4 at Churchill Downs and the With Anticipation (G3) in his graded debut Aug. 31 in his previous outing, but got the job done to become a stakes winner in a breakthrough performance.
Andthewinner has a 2-0-2 record from four starts and earnings of $282,243. His dam is the Scat Daddy mare Run Like the Boss.
QUOTES
Wayne Catalano (winning trainer of Andthewinneris): “100 percent (I thought he would turn in a winning performance). The way the horse was training, I thought we were going to win the race. Obviously, it's horse racing and anything can happen, but I go in thinking we can win. The horses feel it. Everything went like I planned. Today we had pace and everything came together like it should. When you make a plan and everything comes together, it's a great time.”
Susan Moulton (breeder and owner of Andthewinneris): “He was born on my farm. I just bought my farm four years ago. Got my farm manager here, my husband (Shane Sellers), my trainer (Catalano). We're so happy. What a beautiful race. And I'm still proud of 'Manny' from Friday (Moulton owns Manny Wah, winner of Keeneland's Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix-G2, also trained by Catalano).
Flavien Prat (winning jockey):“It was all depending on the way he was breaking out of the gate and the pace. The pace was good and I was able to tuck myself inside a bit. I was traveling really well all the way around and when I tipped him out he really gave me a great turn of foot. (Trainer) Wayne (Catalano) told me he was going to run great and he was right.”
Martin Garcia (rider of runner-up Deer District): “My horse is just learning. He's getting better day by day. Today we were inside and he broke good. I tried to go easy, but we had pressure outside and he just pulled me. I think after today we know we can compete with the good horses. He learned a lot and is going to be much better.”
Tyler Gaffalione (rider of third-place finisher Really Good): “He ran a really good race. He's still learning. He's a very talented colt. The winner was much the best so hats off to him and the connections. I'm very pleased with my horse's effort today and we'll move forward from there.”
The post Andthewinneris Takes ‘Win and You’re In’ Bourbon In Stakes Record Time At Keeneland, Becomes First Graded Winner For Oscar Performance appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
