Ron the Greek powered down the stretch to win the Santa Anita Handicap
Another year of heartbreak for the 5-year-old gelding, Setsuko, who was brutally nosed out by Game on Dude in the last year’s edition of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, but this year Setsuko was tormented by Ron the Greek, who won his first graded stakes
race in more than two years.
The 5-year-old Bill Mott trained Full Mandate horse won the $750,000 event by a convincing margin of 3 ½ lengths, as the big striding bay horse didn’t start well from the gate and settled on the inside in the 1 ¼ mile event.
“I didn’t want to be on the inside so I had to use him the whole way to make him keep going," Lezcano said. "At the half-mile pole I had a lot of horse, but I had to keep asking my horse. My horse is like a bicycle, you keep asking and he will keep running."
Ridden by Jose Lezcano, Ron the Greek made a slight move in the backstretch, where he advanced between horses which gave him an edge over his competitors leaving the backstretch as Lezcano settled his ride four wide into the stretch coming out of the second
turn.
Approaching the stretch, Setsuko coupled with Victor Espinoza took the lead, and rallied along the Mike Smith ride, Uh Oh Bango, who charged down the stretch from last with six furlongs to cover.
Ron the Greek tracked Setsuko on the outside and gained the lead in the mid-stretch, and capitalized on his lead in the drive as he surged clear in the final sixteenth to bag the Santa Anita Handicap in 2 minutes and 0.41 seconds, while Setsuko was the runner
up and Uh Oh Bango, thanks to his belated surge finished on the money.
The Florida bred 5-year-old out of mare Flambe’ by Fortunate Prospect, Ron the Greek was sent as the 7 to 2 third choice, and the favourite of the race, Ultimate Eagle, the 120-pound high weight 2 to 1 choice faded in the stretch to finish an unimpressive
10th.
This was Ron the Greek’s second start of the season, as his first was a second place finish behind Mucho Macho Man in the Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park on 28 January, 2012.
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