Night Prowler Pounces Late in Dania Beach
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Missing the break proved advantageous for Night Prowler, who came fast and late for his first stakes victory Jan. 3 in the Dania Beach Stakes (gr. IIIT) for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park .
Paul Pompa Jr.'s homebred Giant's Causeway gelding got a ground-saving trip with Javier Castellano aboard before uncoiling a torrid rally through the final furlong and wearing down front-runner A Lot for a half-length victory. Croninthebarbarian was up for third, three-quarters of a length behind A Lot.
Night Prowler covered 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:30.43 on firm turf and improved his career line to 2-0-2 from four starts for trainer Chad Brown.
Settling in ninth off the early pace of Kutuzov, then Smokem Kitten, through a quarter mile of :23.60 and a half in :47.59, Night Prowler moved outside through the second turn and then angled out further in midstretch to make his run.
Smokem Kitten pressed Kutuzov in the opening stages powering past down the backstretch and leading to the final furlong, where A Lot, moved up rapidly from fifth to lead. Night Prowler, who was an ideal fourth at the top of the stretch, had stamina in reserve to wear down A Lot for a convincing victory as the 2-1 second choice.
"I saved all the ground around the first turn," Castellano said of how missing the start benefitted his mount. "I think that's one of the keys, because if he would have broken good, he might have been five or six wide on the first turn and it could have cost me the race. Missing the break was a blessing for us and paid off. He just sat back tracking the other horses.
"Turning for home, I was still saving some ground and it really paid off at the end of the race. At the eighth pole, he took off and was very impressive."
Night Prowler made his first two starts at Belmont Park in the fall, capturing a seven-furlong maiden race Oct. 17. In his final start of the year he was a close and unlucky third behind Chief Kitten and Croninthebarbarian in the one-mile Pulpit Stakes Nov. 29 at Gulfstream Park West.
"It was a nightmare of a trip, just in traffic and really wide and (it) didn't go his way," Brown said of Night Prowler's trip in the Pulpit. "He was lucky really to be third that day."
Night Prowler paid $7, $4.20, and $3.40, and A Lot returned $6.40 and $5.20, both shouldering 114 pounds. Croninthebarbarian, under 118, brought $4.80 to show.
Wayward Kitten was fourth, followed by Mostly Mozart, Smokem Kitten, Stormy Wayllen, Crown the Kitten, Valuetempo, and Kutuzov to complete the order of finish.
Bred in Kentucky, Night Prowler was consigned to the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training but failed to meet his reserve price on a final bid of $190,000. His dam is Pompa's multiple graded stakes winner Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready .