Beer Can Man Upsets Cecil B. DeMille
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Beer Can Man wins the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar
After two consecutive wins sprinting on Indiana Grand's turf, Beer Can Man proved Nov. 29 he was worth the purchase for his new connections Little Red Feather Racing and Sterling Stables by winning the $103,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3T) in his West Coast debut at Del Mar.
The 2-year-old Can the Man colt also made his first stakes appearance in the one-mile turf event, stretching out from maiden and allowance wins at five furlongs. He was shifted from the rail to outside the leader in the upper stretch by jockey Juan Hernandez and drove home for a half-length win at 19-1 odds for trainer Mark Glatt.
"We've had him about six weeks. We entered him the first weekend of the meeting, thinking we could run then and then come back in this race. But that race didn't go," Glatt said. "So (the owners) told me to get him ready to go a mile. I was a little skeptical to be honest, but the horse relaxed great, Juan put a nice ride on him, and he got the money."
Commander Khai broke on top in the 11-horse field and showed the way with fractions of :22.53, :46.84, and 1:11.48 through three-quarters of a mile. Coastal Kid was a length back in second and gained two lengths on Beer Can Man in third.
Hernandez saved ground with Beer Can Man by taking the inside route but made a swift move to the outside when he found an opening in the stretch. With more room to work with, Beer Can Man surged past Commander Khai and held off a late bid from Caisson to win. He completed the mile on firm turf in 1:34.75.
"One jump out of there he came (back) to me. He settled real well," Hernandez said of the winner. "I just found my spot tracking the leaders, and I was happy. At the quarter pole, I asked him to go and he did. He really fired. He didn't want to let horses go past him, either. He's a nice horse."
Caisson finished second by a length over Commander Khai, who held for third by a head over Ebeko.
Beer Can Man has earned $100,580 from three wins in five starts.
Bred in Kentucky by Ron Patterson, Beer Can Man is the second foal out of the Dynaformer mare Cheesecake, who was reported to be bred this year to Fast Anna . He was campaigned by Patterson and trained by Tommy Short for his first four starts. The bay was a $9,500 RNA as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.