Sportive Overcomes Fog to Win Portland Mile
Image:
Description:
Fog prevented racing fans from seeing most of the race, but the weather didn't stop Sportive and jockey Javier Matias from winning the 47th running of the $37,400 Portland Mile at Portland Meadows Jan. 25.
Sent off as the fourth choice at odds of 9-2, Sportive scored by one length for owner/trainer Jaqueline Smith while completing the journey in 1:38.42 over a fast track. Maddie's Gold was second and Hunterwood Point was third, a neck father back. Favored Memphis Mobster finished last in the field of seven.
Charlotte M. Wrather bred Sportive, a 7-year-old gelding by Bellamy Road out of the winning Quiet American mare Party Mode.
Matias said Sportive ran a race that was similar to the one he ran in winning the Crater Lake Handicap at odds of 22-1 at Portland Jan. 1 by three-quarters of a length.
"We stayed in third for most of the trip, just outside and behind Johnski and Maddie's Gold. When we got to the quarter pole I asked him for his best and he dug in. I could feel Hunterwood Point coming on my outside, but my horse just kept giving me more and more."
The horses weren't in view for most of the race with the exception of the first and last furlongs. Quarter-mile fractions were :23.69, :47.46, and 1:12.37.
"It was so nerve-wracking," said Smith, a trainer for 25 years. "You had no idea what was going on until they were 200 yards to the wire. When I saw he was just in front that's when we got excited."
Smith said $20,570 winner's share of the purse was the biggest she's ever won as a trainer.
"It's pretty exciting," Smith said. "This horse just never gives up and once he finally started getting to run two turns, I knew he'd be very tough."
Sportive posted the 17th win of his 49-race career and pushed his lifetime earnings to $103,422.
He paid $11.20, $6.20, and $4.20, teaming with Maddie's Gold ($8.80, $4.80) for a $128.60 exacta. Hunterwood Point paid $6.60.