Cabo Spirit, Rhea Moon Shine at Santa Anita
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Cabo Spirit (outside) wins the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita Park
It was Cabo Spirit who materialized at the shadow of the wire, sneaking up in front of Speaking Scout and Perfect Flight to win the Twilight Derby (G2T) Oct. 29 at Santa Anita Park.
The 3-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile floated in the middle of the eight-horse field through fractions of :25.07 and :49.89 with Go Joe Won and Perfect Flight showing the way.
At the final turn in 1:14.68, the horses thundered down with Go Joe Won losing his hold on the lead to Perfect Flight and Speaking Scout also putting in a challenge moving into the stretch in 1:38.25.
With Speaking Scout in the lead, Cabo Spirit under Joe Bravo rallied from four horses back to get up on the front-runner and cross the wire first in a final time of 1:49.46 for trainer George Papaprodromou.
Cabo Spirit ($7.40) improved his record to 4-3-3 from 15 starts and increased his earnings to $438,560 for owner Kretz Racing.
Speaking Scout was second and Perfect Flight was third.
"This is a horse that we really had high hopes on early on," Bravo said. "Today you can see how focused he was. From the eighth pole to the wire, he really bellied out, and you see what he did from there."
Cabo Spirit was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm out of the Shamardal mare Fancy Day who also has a yearling Yoshida filly and dropped a War of Will colt this year.
Rhea Moon Adds to Good Day for D'Amato
Rockingham Ranch and Talla Racing's Rhea Moon added to a good day for trainer Phil D'Amato Saturday when she closed to nab the victory in the $103,000 Autumn Miss Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita just a few hours after D'Amato won the $271,088 Bryan Station Stakes (G3T) with Balnikhov at Keeneland.
The 3-year-old daughter of Starspangledbanner was checked heading into the first turn and raced eighth as 35-1 shot Lucky Girl rushed up to the front to set fractions of :23.36 and :47.36 with even-money favorite Cairo Memories pressing to her outside.
With jockey Juan Hernandez biding his time as Cairo Memories made a move for the lead through three-quarters in 1:11.17, Rhea Moon still had plenty of running to do off the turn for home as she swung five wide. But when the favorite flattened through seven-eighths in 1:22.97, Rhea Moon was there to pick up the pieces.
Rhea Moon wins the Autumn Miss Stakes
Finishing the mile turf test for sophomore fillies in 1:34.44 on a firm turf course with a 1 1/4-length score after drawing clear in the final sixteenth, Rhea Moon picked up her first graded victory and second consecutive score off an Aug. 21 allowance-level win at Del Mar.
Nadette was second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Kitty Kitana , who completed the trifecta.
Bred in Ireland by Kevin Molloy, Rhea Moon is the first foal out of the unraced Fastnet Rock mare Callisto Star . She is the first graded winner for the mare, who also produced her winning full sister, There's the Door, a winner in England. The mare's last reported foal was a 2021 colt by Magna Grecia .