'Casablanca' Dominant in San Juan Capistrano

An eye-catching move in the fourth and final turn snapped a 10-race winless streak for Quick Casablanca and gave trainer Ron McAnally his fourth San Juan Capistrano Stakes (gr. IIIT) victory April 10 at Santa Anita Park.



The 8-year-old Until Sundown horse last won in 2014, when he took the 1 1/8-mile Last Tycoon (gr. IIIT), but showed signs of improvement last time out when he ran second to fellow San Juan Capistrano runner Generosidade in the 1 1/2-mile San Luis Rey (gr. IIT).



On Sunday, however, Quick Casablanca went last to first under jockey Tyler Baze and defeated second-place Generosidade by 2 3/4 lengths. Longshot Life's Journey came in third, another 3 3/4 lengths behind.



"To do it for Mr. McAnally is so great," Baze said. "It feels special. He got an unlucky trip last time and he's a wonderful horse to ride—very talented and he loves long-distance races, and they're my favorite."



Quick Casablanca raced in seventh through the first 1 1/2 miles of the marathon trek (with the downhill turf course out of commission, the race that first ran in 1935 was at 1 7/8 miles for the first time on the flat turf oval). Cardiac led through the first half-mile in :53.54, then Kenjisstorm took command and covered six furlongs in 1:20.45, a mile in 1:47.71, and 1 1/2 miles in 2:43.26, but Quick Casablanca seemingly made up all that ground in an instant when he blew by in the final turn and ran away from the field.



The winner completed the 1 7/8 miles in 3:19.58 and paid $5.80, $3.20, and $2.40 across the board. Generosidade delivered $4.40 and $3.80, and Life's Journey brought $5 to show.



Energia Fribby finished fourth, followed by Cardiac, Generoso, and Kenjisstorm, to complete the order of finish. A Red Tie Day, Blingo, and Bourbon Soul were scratched.



"The race set up well," McAnally said. "I just told Tyler to let him gallop past the finish line first time around. I was a little afraid going twice around on soft ground."



The 83-year-old McAnally previously won the former grade I grass event in 2013 (Interaction), 1998 (Amerique), and 1980 (John Henry). The San Juan Capistrano was his first victory of the meet, from only 14 starters.



"He's an old horse. He's a pro," McAnally said. "He's been around a long time. He's been to Chile, he's been to New York, he's been to Florida. He's one professional horse, and he's old like me."



Bred in Chile by Haras Mantancilla, out of the Cipayo mare Quick, Quick Casablanca has a 5-8-6 record from 28 starts with $749,160 in earnings.



After the race, Cardiac unseated jockey Fernando Perez while the horses were making their way back to toward the winner's circle. Kenjisstorm was spooked by the spill and also unseated jockey Edwin Maldonado, who attended to Perez while he was down on the dirt until the track's emergency medical technicians arrived. Perez was moved onto a backboard and into an ambulance and transported to a hospital.