Caddo River DQ'd to Second in Oaklawn Comeback

A disqualification was all that kept owner John Ed Anthony of Shortleaf Stable from snaring two races on the Dec. 19 card at Oaklawn Park with his homebred half siblings—Caddo River  and Como Square .

In what was his first start following a six-month layoff, the one-time Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) hopeful Caddo River broke awkwardly from the gate and was forced to take back as 30-1 shot Defender  led the field through a :23.34 opening quarter. Caddo River, visibly rank under jockey Florent Geroux down the backstretch, was pinned down on the inside of Irish Unity , with D. Wayne Lukas-trained Atoka  perched three wide past a half-mile in :47.07. Boxed in turning for home as Highestdistinction  and Atoka rushed to take command down the lane, Geroux finally found running room for the son of Hard Spun   with a furlong to go and he barreled down the center of the track. Inside the sixteenth pole, Geroux angled Caddo River in tight with Atoka and the steely bay shouldered by his opponent before prevailing by a neck in a wild finish.

The mile was run in 1:38.28 on a fast track.

Immediately after the race, jockey Luis Contreras lodged a claim of foul against Geroux and Caddo River for bumping Atoka, who had been forced off-balance by the impact. The stewards ultimately awarded Atoka the victory and placed heavily favored Caddo River in second.

"I thought 'Caddo' ran a very credible race considering the trouble he got himself in," said Anthony. "The good news is he's back and he's well. And performed beautifully today. It's unfortunate, certainly for the betting public, with the bumping incident but that's the stewards' decision. All in all, it was a great day."

Trained by Brad Cox, Caddo River was an impressive winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn earlier this year and was a solid runner-up in the Arkansas Derby (G1) before trying his hand at sprinting in the one-turn Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (G1) on Belmont Stakes Day. The colt finished sixth in that event before being sent to the sidelines.

#7 Atoka, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, ridden by Luis Contreras, is the Official Winner in the 8th at Oaklawn following an inquiry and DQ of #1 Caddo River! Congrats to the connections!

7-1-6-2 Official Order of finish pic.twitter.com/UYaNnUpfTE

— TVG (@TVG) December 19, 2021

Two races earlier on the card, Caddo River's 2-year-old half sister Como Square collected her second win in a row when capturing a six-furlong allowance optional claiming race to remain undefeated. Also running for the Cox barn, the daughter of Into Mischief   was overlooked in a field where all eyes fell upon her stablemate, the regally-bred Marr Time , a half sister to champion Beholder  and leading sire Into Mischief  . However, in the end, it was Marr Time who faded to last in the final furlong while Como Square launched a stirring stretch rally, sweeping by the leaders late to win by three-quarters of a length.

Como Square, ridden by Martin Garcia, clocked the six furlongs in 1:11.76 on and paid $21.20 for the win.

"She was very impressive," said Anthony. "She doesn't have much speed on the front end but she comes running at the end and it makes it exciting for everybody. She coasted home. It was a good win, a bit of a surprise, though it shouldn't have been, but obviously the betting public didn't like her much. She's by Into Mischief and out a very nice homebred mare. We have a beautiful Nyquist   colt following her up."

Como Square captured her debut Nov. 11 at Indiana Grand by a 4 3/4 lengths prior to shipping to Arkansas with Cox's Oaklawn string.

According to Anthony, an Arkansas native, Como Square is named after a small square in downtown Hot Springs, where there was an old hotel bordered by three different streets. Como was a derivative of the trio of street names.

The siblings are out of the 9-year-old Congrats  mare Pangburn , who was purchased by Anthony for $130,000 in 2013 at The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Lexington. The multiple graded stakes-placed, stakes-winning mare earned $338,480 while racing for three seasons for Anthony.

"As far as wins are concerned we're 2-for-2 today and that doesn't happen very often," said Anthony. "Racing is such a sport where the peaks and valleys follow each other very quickly. The disqualification was a bit of downer but at the same time it wasn't a critical race and it's good to have (Caddo River) back. He got the job done and that's what we were looking for."