The first-ever Grade I, $1 million California Crown presented by Sir Davis American Whisky lived up to all the hype Saturday, September 28 at Santa Anita. In a thriller of a horse race, SUBSANADOR (Arg) won under 59-year-old Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, getting his head down on the wire to prevail in a three-horse photo with National Treasure and Newgate.
The victory earned Argentine-bred Subsanador (Fortify – Save the Date (Arg) by Hurricane Cat) a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3.
Sent off the 6-1 third choice, Subsanador, owned by the relatively new Wathnan Stable, got a dream trip saving ground while comfortably tracking pacesetter National Treasure and jockey Flavien Prat. Entering the stretch, Smith angled Subsanador outside of Met Mile (G1) and Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure, while Newgate had begun his rally from well off the pace. It was then a three-way duel to the wire with Subsanador prevailing by a head while in tight quarters in between horses.
“I knew my horse could handle the pocket.” Smith said. Who had just previously won the GII, California Crown Eddie D. Stakes “I knew National Treasure would be the speed…so I knew to lay back.”
Trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, Subsanador completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.68 for a 102 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form. National Treasure, trained by Bob Baffert, held second by a nose over stablemate Newgate after setting fractions of 22.89, 47.19, 1:11.26 and 1:36.17 for a mile.
“Everything went well,” Mandella said. “This was tight and he was cooped up a little bit, I didn’t know how he’d react. I was very proud that he kept trying.”
Imported last year from Argentina, where he was a Group I winner on turf, Subsanador was making his fifth U.S. start and third for Mandella. Subsanador started his domestic career trained by John Sadler. He was fourth in the GII San Antonio last December and second by a head to Newgate in the GI Santa Anita Handicap in March. He then was sold privately to Wathnam Racing and transferred to Mandella.
Wathnan is the stable name of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
In two previous starts for his new connections, Subsanador was fourth in the GII Hollywood Gold Cup in May before shipping to Monmouth Park and winning the GIII Philip H. Iselin on Aug. 17.
“We’ve never been in a tight situation like that,” Mandella said. “At Monmouth, he never had a straw in his path.” Subsanador, a five-year-old horse by Fortify, improved his overall record to 17: 9-2-1. The $600,000 winner’s share pushed his earnings past the million-dollar mark to $1,003,124.
“I’ve got to give Richard Mandella all the credit,” said Smith, who rode Subsanador for the first time in the Iselin. “He’s got this horse so confident, he thinks he owns the place (Santa Anita).”
In addition to National Treasure and Newgate, Baffert also started Muth. The three-year-old was bet down to the 3-2 favorite and finished last.
“We just got beat,” Baffert said. “Muth didn’t bring his A game. He just didn’t fire today. The other two horses ran their hearts out. We just got beat.”
On Saturday evening, another new Wathnan purchase, HIT SHOW, won the Lukas Classic (1) in the slop for trainer Brad Cox. No decision on whether Hit Show, a grey son of Candy Ride (Arg), would head to the Vlassic.
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