Calibrate pulls long-shot upset and rewards punters. (Coady Photography)
Oaklawn Park Press Release
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.— Josh Engel’s Calibrate, the longest price on the board at 30-1, wore down the pacesetters late to win Sunday’s $150,000 Temperence Hill Stakes by one length.
With jockey Francisco Arrieta in the irons, Calibrate tracked in third place as Warrant and slight 3-2 favorite Lone Rock raced within a half length of each other through early fractions of :24 2/5, :49 2/5 and 1:14 2/5 for the first three-quarters of a mile. The winner came three wide into the stretch and set aim at the leaders, wearing them down late to win the 1 ½ mile race in 2:31 3/5 over a fast track. Lone Rock, the defending Temperence Hill winner, held the second spot, while Warrant dropped back to third after leading for most of the race.
Calibrate, a 5-year-old Distorted Humor gelding, improved his record to 6-5-0 in 24 starts and has now earned $350,740. He returned $62.60, $14.40 and $4.60.
Live racing resumes Friday with a 12:30 p.m. first post.
Stakes Quotes
Winning jockey Francisco Arrieta, Calibrate: “Man, I’m so happy because I won that race. When I was behind the gate, I thanked God because I was riding in this kind of race, a mile and a half. It’s just pretty fun. My horse took a good jump and relaxed. At the three-eighths pole, I saw they were trying to draw away. I had a lot of horse and when I moved, he responded to me.”
Winning trainer Coty Rosin, Calibrate: “We had no expectations, really. It was just the horse, to see if he could go a mile and a half. Kind of seems like he’s just been a grinder and we just thought about taking a shot. Did we expect to beat Warrant and Lone Rock? No. The horse has been training great. But did I have any aspirations about winning? No. We were just seeing if he could get the trip and he did. So, it kind of opens up some doors for him.”
Trainer Robertino Diodoro, second with Lone Rock: “Very proud of him – 8-years-old and to come off that layoff. Even Ramon (Vazquez), of course, he was disappointed to lose, but he was more than happy. You say he’s not the same horse because he gets beat by a 30-1 shot, but this horse hasn’t run in eight, nine months. He’s 8-years-old; a mile and a half. He ran super.”
