Sir Anthony Upsets with Late Run in Harlan's Holiday
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Leslie Martin
Sir Anthony (inside) slips past Audible to win the Harlan's Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Even as a steady rain pummeled Gulfstream Park patrons the afternoon of Dec. 15, the gray and dreary weather could not shake the spirit of Sir Anthony, who left the winner's circle with a spring in his step and his head held high after pulling an upset win in the $100,000 Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3).
With all eyes on heavy 1-5 favorite Audible—a return to graded company for the colt who finished third in this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)—little attention was paid to Sir Anthony, a 25-1 shot, as the horses loaded into the gate.
All six made a clean break over the sloppy (sealed) track, and Sightforsoreeyes and Minute Madness, both campaigned by Looch Racing Stables, established the lead.
At the back of the pack, jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. and Sir Anthony cut sharply inward from their far outside post and secured a rail trip as they entered the first turn.
Sightforsoreeyes set fractions of :25.19, :49.80, and 1:13.50 through the first six furlongs but faded drastically as the field entered upper stretch. Biding his time in sixth, Sir Anthony saved significant ground on the inside, picked up the pace, and cut the corner at the top of the stretch when prompted by Hernandez.
Racing three wide on the outside under Javier Castellano, Audible steadily built momentum before shifting out even farther to the five path in the final turn. The 3-year-old Into Mischief colt made his move to get up on almost even terms with Sir Anthony as they approached the finish, but as Hernandez pushed his mount under a strong, right-handed drive, Sir Anthony maintained his advantage over Audible in deep stretch before finally turning back his challenger to win by a half-length.
Final time for the 1 1/16-mile test was 1:45.14. Audible took second, followed by Apostle, Village King ARG), Sightforsoreeyes, and Minute Madness.
"I said to Brian going out, 'Brian, believe in this horse. This horse has got two gears. One will take you there and one will put you in front if we're good enough,'" said Sir Anthony's trainer, Anthony Mitchell. "Looking at (the race), he was going well within himself. He's kind of not a lazy horse but a relaxed horse. But when you ask him, he'll find it. Mentally, he's really come around and starting to prove the type of individual he is. But watching the race, I was comfortable, but then going into the turn, I was very comfortable. I thought we're going to have a horse race here."
Sir Anthony returned $53.80, $6.00, and $4.40 on a $2 wager.
Owned and bred by Richard Otto Stables, Sir Anthony was lightly raced as a 2-year-old. The 3-year-old Mineshaft ridgling broke his maiden in his third start before trying his hand at black type, placing fifth in the Sun Power Stakes and second in the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity, both at Hawthorne Race Course. Sir Anthony opened his sophomore campaign by running third in an April 13 allowance race at Hawthorne.
Starting four more times through the summer, Sir Anthony struggled to find his winning stride until Aug. 11 in the Bruce D. Memorial Stakes at Arlington International Racecourse. With a run similar to his Harlan's Holiday victory, Sir Anthony broke outward before righting himself and cutting in to chase the pace on the inside and finally getting up to take command in the stretch and win by two lengths. He followed that effort with two more wins in allowance company Oct. 5 and Nov. 1 at Hawthorne before Mitchell decided to test his newly confident trainee in a graded stakes.
"He's been a promising young colt who took a while to figure it out, but now that he's figured it out, who knows where we go from here," said Mitchell. "He ran a couple of races where it was like, 'What's going on?' It just didn't make sense, but ever since he won the (Bruce D. Memorial) at Arlington, he's just got progressively better and better.
"The owner, I'm so delighted for," Mitchell continued. "He bred the horse and he's been with me for a very long time, and we've enjoyed a lot of success. He predominantly breeds Illinois-breds, and we've done pretty good with them. But going ahead and beating the likes of Audible—that's huge. I mean, I can't put words to that."
Bred in Illinois, Sir Anthony is the first of three foals out of Mourette, a stakes-placed daughter of Smart Strike. He improved his record to 5-2-2 from 14 starts, with earnings of $202,220.