Accelerate Causes Own Trouble, Still Wins Awesome Again
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Photo: Nicole Marie
Accelerate wins the Awesome Again Stakes
Hronis Racing's Accelerate didn't make it easy on himself in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) Sept. 29 at Santa Anita Park, but his Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) prep still resulted in a victory.
The multiple grade 1 winner resisted loading under jockey Joel Rosario for the 1 1/8-mile test, then acted up in the gate, broke slow, raced last in the six-horse field the first time by the wire, and traveled four wide into the first turn.
The John Sadler-trained son of Lookin At Lucky advanced to fourth in the backstretch, then moved with a three-wide attack on leader West Coast in the final turn to grind out a 2 1/4-length victory in the stretch. Accelerate finished the distance in 1:50.38, while West Coast held second by a half-length over 57-1 longshot Isotherm.
"He wasn't very good in the gate, didn't stand very well, and that's probably my fault. He kind of missed the break," Sadler said. "I should have taken him one more time to the gate to stand. But he overcame it, got a nice, clean trip, and the best horse prevailed today."
After the slow break Rosario asked the 5-year-old chestnut to get into the race. In the past Accelerate's few missteps have sometimes been caused by gate issues.
"John told me he is a little slow to get going, so I just made sure we got ourselves in the game right away," Rosario said. "I just wanted to get position, and my horse was going comfortably. He loves to run. He was waiting on the turn, and then he took off."
The Awesome Again was the fourth grade 1 win of the season for Accelerate, who previously won the Santa Anita Handicap Presented by San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino (G1), Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1), and TVG Pacific Classic (G1), but all of those were achieved with relative ease in comparison.
"It's nice to see all those things that didn't go his way today, and he still came out on top," said owner Kosta Hronis. "It just shows what kind of horse he is."
Multiple grade 1 winner West Coast also pleased his connections in his first start since a runner-up finish in the March 31 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1). The 4-year-old Flatter colt stalked longshot Shades of Victory through a first quarter in :22.89, then took over with a one-length lead through a half in :46.17.
Passed in the final turn by Isotherm, West Coast battled back on the inside under jockey Mike Smith and for a moment in the stretch looked like he might even come back on Accelerate, who was clear on the outside.
"He really ran a huge race," Smith said. "I really couldn't ask for more out of him. He really needed that push, and we forced him to move forward a little more, but I think that he did it well, and it was good for him."
West Coast's trainer, Bob Baffert, said after the race that the Breeders' Cup Classic is in the colt's sights. West Coast finished third in the 2017 edition.
"He's got a chance to win the Breeders' Cup Classic with this race under his belt," Baffert said. "He made that horse run today. We got beat by a really good horse. ... (West Coast) was empty earlier than I thought, but his class kept him in it. He kept running."
Hronis and Sadler also had their minds on the Breeders' Cup prize after the Awesome Again.
"We've been on all sides of this game, so we're OK with (being the favorite for the Classic)," Hronis said. "Maybe a race like this is better for him than what happened in the Pacific Classic, when he just sort of ran free. Maybe the gutsy performance is better for him."
"Breeders' Cup is obviously next up," Sadler added. "We'll train here at home and then go and follow Bob Baffert over there to Churchill about a week before. We'll kind of walk behind Bob and creep up on him."