Man o’ War Stakes – Gio Ponti denied a record breaking win by the rampant Jamie Spencer and Cape Blanco for Aidan O’Brien
Dubai owned Cape Blanco went on to beat US turf champion, Gio Ponti, easily to land the Grade 1 $600,000 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park with jockey, Jamie Spencer, on 9 July.
Trainerm Aidan O’Brien, teamed up Cape Blanco and Jamie Spencer to stop Gio Ponti from winning the Man o’ War Stakes for a record-breaking third consecutive time.
Gio Ponti was sent at 10 to 11 to win the Man o’ War Stakes.
The four-year-old chestnut colt, Cape Blanco finished an exciting fourth in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup a Meydan on 26 March, 2011.
It was a hard fought race where he tracked the leaders half way with jockey, Jamie Spencer, but the out of luck colt was driven out and slightly lacked space to convert the good run into a win.
Katsuhiko Sumii trained Victoire Pisa was the victor on that day, beating Cape Blanco by a mere length.
The son of Galileo was making his United States' debut at Belmont Park and had to face off with Gio Ponti who owned the 1 mile 3 furlong turf by winning the event twice before.
The six-year-old bay horse, Gio Ponti, got denied by a little less experienced Cape Blanco, who defeated the reigning champion by a massive 2 ¼ lengths.
The Aidan O’Brien trained Cape Blanco landed his first win of the season out of four starts.
Previously, Cape Blanco appeared in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at the Royal Ascot on 14 June, 2011.
It was a disappointing run at Ascot as Cape Blanco finished sixth in the field of seven horses.
Canford Cliffs destroyed his competition and won the Group 1 race by an unbelievable 16 lengths.
Prior to the Royal Ascot endeavors, Cape Blanco was sent to France to participate in the Group 1 Prix Ganay – Prix Air Mauritius at Longchamp on 30 April, 2011.
The 1 mile 2 ½ furlong event proved to be a tall order for the four year old son of Galileo as he couldn’t keep up to pace and finished fourth.
On 9 July, 2011, Aidan O’Brien teamed up with Jamie Spencer and released their four-year-old to challenge the likes of Gio Ponti.
Under Jamie Spencer, Cape Blanco responded well and broke out with pace, showing early speed, the pair shifted to the outside.
From four furlongs out, Jamie Spencer decided to shake things up to press the leaders.
With 2 ½ furlongs to go the pair gained a narrow lead but made a crucial mistake when they drifted towards the right and lost the lead to jockey R A Dominguez with Gio Ponti.
Cape Blanco gained the lead back with 1 ½ furlong to go, ran on well from their under pressure in the final furlong to beat Gio Ponti by 2 ¼ lengths.
It was an exciting race but Cape Blanco showed that he can destroy rivals anywhere in the world, despite their reputation.
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