Bourbon Bay left it late to take the San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita
On a difficult track which gets more difficult when it rains, the Santa Anita turf course was where Bourbon Bay landed his first win of the season in emphatic style when he left it late in the stretch to head out Slim Shadey in the last gasp of the race
in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes at about 1 ½ mile on 25 March, 2012, over a wet Santa Anita turf course.
In a field of 5, trainer Neil Drysdale, who won for the second time at the track on the same day, was hoping that jockey, Joel Rosario would keep Bourbon Bay close to the leaders, probably second or at least third, but the pair loomed way back, and possibly
the reason why the race was so close in the end.
The 6-year-old gelding wrangled a lot of drama out of the race as he came from way behind, virtually last to edge past the runner up in the last jump, and covered the 1 ½ mile distance in 2 minutes and 25.78 seconds.
“I don’t know what he (Rosario) was doing so far back," said winning trainer Neil Drysdale, who wanted the jockey to keep it close to the leaders. "I thought he waited too long, although it’s very difficult to judge this course, how fast it is, when it starts
raining. It’s very difficult."
According to his trainer, the Kentucky bred son of Sligo Bay, out of mare Coral Necklace by Conquistador Cielo, Bourbon Bay winds down a campaign well, and many good things are expected of him this season, but the gelding doesn’t like a wet field.
“He’s a very good campaigner, but he doesn’t like deep turf," Drysdale said. "That’s one of the drawbacks, so I was concerned about the course, because he doesn’t like it soft. We’ll bring him back in the San Juan Capistrano."
Bourbon Bay started his 2012 campaign with a run in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at about 1 ¼ miles, but finished a dismal 4th on the day to winner Slim Shadey, who he edged out in the San Luis Rey Stakes.
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