After his sensational win, Caracortado will go against Cal-breds in the Sensational Star Stakes at Santa Anita
The Michael Machowsky trained 5-year-old gelding, Caracortado, posted victories prior to and after the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Turf Classic.
Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Caracortado bagged the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile Handicap at about 1 mile on dirt at Del Mar, under jockey Joe Talamo.
Right after the Breeders’ Cup, the California bred Cat Dreams' gelding notched the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes at about six and a half furlongs at Santa Anita Park on 8 January, 2012, under jockey Rafael Bejarano.
The Daytona Stakes was Caracortado’s first of the new season and by far the most sensational one out of all of his victories in his 4-year racing career.
The Blahut Racing and Lo Hi Racing owned Caracortado was dead and buried in the six and a half furlong test, and had nowhere to go, but he changed all that after the three sixteenths pole and closed in like a freight train to steal it from Victory Pete and Mr. Guff, who finished second and third, respectively.
His spectacular last to first victory fooled everyone, even the American sports caster and public address announcer, Trevor Denman.
He said:
“To me, it was a once in a lifetime kind of performance,” said Denman. “I have never seen a horse do what Caracortado did. He was dead in the water at the three sixteenths pole. He wasn’t going anywhere. You can look back at horses like Silky Sullivan, but in his case, you could see he was gathering himself, that he was going to make a run. In this case, Caracortado was doing nothing. It was truly amazing.”
Out of mare Mons Venus by Maria’s Mon, Caracortado is now pointed toward the $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes at Santa Anita Park’s turf course, and like the Daytona Stakes, the Sensational Star will be run over a distance of six and a half furlongs.
The race will commence on 28 January, 2012, six weeks away from Caracortado’s ultimate goal, the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile, also at Santa Anita Park’s turf course at about a mile on 3 March, 2012.
It will be a good prep race for Caracortado against Cal-breds going downhill on turf, after which Machowsky has the option to run him in the Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes at a mile on turf, on 4 February.
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