Shoemaker Mile Stakes 2011 - Courageous Cat seeks his first Grade 1 victory and a place in Breeders’ Cup
The five year old son of Storm Cat will be seeking to land a Grade 1 victory for the first time in his career when the bay horse visits Hollywood Park to run the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile Stakes on 2 July.
The last time Courageous Cat was in California, he came agonizingly close to a Grade 1 victory in 2009, when he ran the Breeders’ Cup mile only to finish second to Goldikova, who defeated him, by half a length.
The five year old bay horse is coming from a grade 3 win on 11 June, owning a five horse field and defeating his closest rival in that race Yield Bogey by a massive 2 ¼ length in the Poker Stakes at Belmont Park.
Courageous Cat and his connections will be eyeing more than a first Grade 1 win at Hollywood Park because the race is of great significance since it’s a Breeders ‘Cup “Win and You’re In” race.
The winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile Stakes will be a privileged horse, pre-entry, and, entry fees waived and on top of that receive $10,000 as travel allowance.
The Shoemaker Mile Stakes was inaugurated in 1938 and was called the Premier Handicap and now it is named after the Hall of Fame jockey, Bill Shoemaker.
It will be the 68th running of the Shoemaker Mile Stakes and it clearly offers more purse money than the second race Triple Band Handicap worth $250,000, to be run at the Hollywood Park on 2 July.
Courageous Cat is trained by the Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott, and this will not be his first time to win the Grade 1 race but the five year old has shown a lot of promise throughout his career and it is about time that the Hall of famer helps the bay
horse reach new heights.
Bill Mott has bagged many Grade 1 races in his career and at Hollywood Park he has won the Hollywood Derby in 2008 with his reliable horse Court Vision and if we go down memory lane, Bill Mott got the 1992 Hollywood Turf Cup.
The son of Storm Cat has been successful in five races out of 12 starts, including a respectable second finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, two years back in 2009. Owned by Pam, and, Martin Wygod, Courageous Cat will face off with stiff competition and he
will not be a lone horse going for the first Grade 1 victory on the field.
Eoin Harty trained, Victor’s Cry, will be among other contestants to win the race, the six-year old bay horse won the Shoemaker Mile Stakes in 2010 and will be looking to defend his title.
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