Cazadero, Who's the Star Shine at Woodbine

Cazadero  closed with authority to win the CA$255,500 Nearctic Stakes (G2T) Oct. 8 at Woodbine. 

The six-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-olds and upward attracted a competitive field of eight, with the eventual winner departing the outside post 8 under Patrick Husbands. 

Cazadero raced at the back of the pack as Into the Sunrise  took control to run a quarter in :22.93, after which 2020 Nearctic winner and multiple stakes victor Silent Poet  wrested the lead for a :45.29 half with 4-5 choice Bound for Nowhere , winner of the July 2 Highlander Stakes (G2T), in close pursuit. 

Silent Poet and Bound for Nowhere began to separate themselves from their rivals down the long stretch, with Bound for Nowhere wresting the lead as Cazadero, still last, began to pick up momentum. 

Midway down the lane, the 4-year-old son of Street Sense   was in full flight and swept past the frontrunners en route to a 2 1/4-length score. Bound for Nowhere bested Silent Poet by a head for second.

The final time over a firm turf course was 1:09.11. 

"I just looked at the form and saw that this is the second time he's gone on the turf," said Husbands, aboard for the first time. "In the last race, he came off the pace, flying. I just tried to ride him back the same way." 

It was the fourth win from 10 starts for Cazadero, trained by Brendan Walsh for Marc Detampel. 

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings out of the grade 3-winning Forest Wildcat  mare Wild Gams , the gelding went through the auction ring twice, most recently at the 2022 Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale, where he sold for $50,000 to agent Fergus Galvin from Eaton Sales' consignment. Earlier, he failed to meet his reserve at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where the hammer fell at $120,000, so he made his first eight starts for Stonestreet and trainer Steve Asmussen.

He came into the Nearctic off a closing third in a 5 1/2-furlong turf allowance optional claiming race Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course, his first outing for Walsh and Detampel.

Cazadero, also the winner of the 2020 Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, paid $18.40 on a $2 win ticket. He is a half brother to grade 3-placed Almost Famous . Eight of Wild Gams' nine starters have been winners, including a 2-year-old colt by Good Magic   named Dubyuhnell . The mare was bred to Charlatan   for 2023 after coming up empty in 2022 and aborting in 2021. 

Video: Nearctic S. (G2T)

Who's the Star Sets Track Record in Durham Cup

M Racing Group's Who's the Star , rallying from last after a sluggish start, roared past his seven rivals to record an impressive victory in the CA$157,500 Durham Cup (G3). 

The 4-year-old Tonalist   gelding, one of three horses in the field of eight trained by Mark Casse, was making his first start on a synthetic surface and finished the 1 1/16-mile test in a track record time of 1:40.73 while scoring by a half-length over Artie's Storm .

"I knew this horse would come running on in; that's what he did the last time he was here," said jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, who was recording her second straight upset stakes score with the 9-1 Who's the Star after capturing the Niagara over 1 1/4 miles on the E.P. Taylor course at odds of 13-1 in their first partnership. The Kentucky-bred finished a non-threatening eighth when making an interim appearance in the 1 1/2-mile Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes (G2T) at Kentucky Downs.

"And he's pretty speedy that last quarter, so I just wanted to make sure I got going down the backside into the turn and you know that's a bit of a shorter stretch than the E.P. Taylor," Wilson said. "But he handled it beautifully, he was just motoring home. I was really impressed." 

Like the Storm, a second Casse trainee, was sent up from his inside post to duel with War Bomber  for the leading into the clubhouse turn and held a half-length advantage through a quarter in :23.81. 

War Bomber moved up just outside the leader to take charge just after a half-mile went in :47.05, and led by a half-length through six furlongs in 1:09.93. 

Artie's Storm, meanwhile, had been sitting just a couple of lengths back while hugging the rail and swung out to launch his move around the final turn. That momentum carried him to the front after they straightened out for home and he led by a head at the stretch call. But Who's the Star had moved up quickly to take dead aim while racing widest and was not to be denied. 

Artie's Storm was a clear second, three lengths before War Bomber .

Bred in Kentucky by Oscar Penn and John R. Penn out of the Carson City mare Shine Forth , Who's the Star was a $375,000 purchase by Golden Star Farm from Penn Sales' consignment to the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He is the most recent foal out of his dam, who has been bred seven times without getting in foal, most recently to World of Trouble   for 2023. All six of her starters have been winners, including grade 3 winner Bourbon Courage  .

Who's the Star, who began his career in California with John Sadler, joined Casse's string in Florida this winter.

He returned $20.10 on a $2 win ticket.

Video: Durham Cup S. (G3)