Editore Earns First U.S. Stakes Win in Berkeley

Editore and jockey Brice Blanc raced in midfield early on and powered away from their competition in the stretch to win the $100,000 Berkeley Handicap (G3) Nov. 25 at Golden Gate Fields.

"I knew he had a nice turn of foot and he's been finishing like a freight train in the mornings," Blanc said of the Brazilian group 1 winner who won his first U.S. race last time out Oct. 15 in an optional-claiming allowance on the grass at his Santa Anita Park home base. "I was very confident in him coming into this race. He's being doing everything right in the mornings and he has been improving. When I asked him to go down the lane today, the race was over. He ran great."

A 5-year-old gelding by Redattore (BRZ), Editore is trained by Paulo Lobo and Blanc was confident he'd handle Golden Gate's synthetic main track. Editore stopped the clock for 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.37.

"The way he travels, I thought he would handle the Tapeta," Blanc said. "You never know until the horses step foot on it, but he's a beautiful mover and very athletic. He has a lot of power."

Force, the winner of the Rolling Green Stakes on the Golden Gate turf in September, went off as the 2-1 favorite for trainer John Martin and jockey Juan Hernandez. Heading into the Berkeley the son of Raven's Pass was undefeated in two starts over Golden Gate's Tapeta surface. He raced far off the pace and ran on strongly down the lane to snatch second, 2 1/4 lengths behind the winner.

"He tried the best he could," Hernandez said. "He's an honest horse. I wish I could have saved a little more ground on the far turn, but I did not get that chance. I had to make my move outside. When I asked him to go, he went, but the winner is a nice horse. We were second best today."

Hard Aces, a grade 1 winner trained by John Sadler, raced at the back of the pack and stayed toward the rear throughout. Jockey Kyle Frey said that the 7-year-old might have not cared for the Tapeta surface.

"He didn't seem to be kicking it in like he had in past starts on the dirt," Frey said. "I don't think he liked the Tapeta. Even up the backstretch we were at the back, but we really weren't that far behind. The field was pretty bunched up. He just wasn't able to make up much ground over this track."

With his first U.S. stakes win, Editore pushed his lifetime record to 4-3-1 from 15 starts and increased his earnings to $133,905.