Cape Blanco appeared to have the world by the tail late last summer. The Aidan O'Brien trainee followed his Irish Derby victory with a resounding 5-length win in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. But the son of Galileo finished 14th in the Arc de Triomphe at Longchamps in early October and hadn't been able to recapture his stellar form in three appearances this year. Until he hit New York, that is.
Cape Blanco prevented Shane Ryan's Gio Ponti from winning the Man o' War Stakes for the third straight year by posting a 2-length victory at Belmont Park on Saturday. Jamie Spencer was in for the ride and had his mount forwardly placed, sitting just off fractions of 23:59 and 50.31 for the initial quarter and half-mile, respectively.
Spencer got busy aboard Cape Blanco around the far turn and stayed that way in a driving finish that saw the duo hit the wire comfortably in front of a rallying Gio Ponti, which settled for second place. Cape Blanco paid $8.10 as the second choice in the 6-horse scramble and keyed an $18.20 exacta with the favored Gio Ponti.
Spencer also reported that Cape Blanco lost a shoe as he changed leads with about four furlongs to run.
"That was the only worry I had throughout the whole race," Spencer said. "He's a high-class horse and I'm glad he's come back to form."
Charlie O'Connor, manager of Ashford Stud in Kentucky was on hand to represent owners Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and Mrs. Fitriani Hay.
The connections of both the top two finishers indicated that a rematch in next month's Arlington Million could be in the cards.
WINNING CAN BE HABIT FORMING
LT Stable's Sweet Consideration was a bit shy about breaking her maiden, needing 17 starts to get that first win after nine on-the-board finishes. The 4-year-old filly, trained by Dan O'Callaghan, liked leading under the wire so much that she came right back in Woodbine's eighth race on Friday and made it two in a row, scoring by almost four lengths under Tyler Pizarro. She downed a field at the $12,500 claiming level that had won nothing but a single race. The win price was $10.30.
Darren Glennon quickly went from last to first at Woodbine on Wednesday. He sent out Bella Paris Noel, the last-place finisher in the fifth race, but was greeting Philip Bradley's Mighty Monarch in the winner's circle 30 minutes later. And talk about last to first - this was the 4-year-old gelding's first race since Glennon took over his training, coming on the heels of last-place results in two of his last three ventures. In this mile and a sixteenth on the main track for limited winners at the $11,500 claiming plateau, Mighty Monarch and jockey Ryan Pacheco pressed the early pace, put a rival away turning for home and won comfortably by two lengths. The win price came back $45.50 on Glennon's first win of 2011.
Then, in Saturday's seventh race at Woodbine, Glennon came up both a winner and a loser. He saddled Rainbow End Racing Stable and Cristello Sternberg's Blushing Brat to a 3-length victory in a claiming race limited to one-time winners. Quincy Welch rode the 4-year-old gelding, which paid $12.70 in the win hole. The loss came about at the claim box, where trainer Vaal Bhawansingh found the $12,500 price tag too enticing to pass up.
