El Potente puts away foes in the Thunder Road, Benoit Photo
Santa Anita Park Press
ARCADIA, CA —El Potente won the Grade III, $100,000 Thunder Road Stakes for the second year in a row Saturday when rolling to a stylish front-running victory under Hector Berrios going one mile on turf at Santa Anita.
El Potente, trained by Dan Blacker, set opening fractions of 22.92 and 46.67 seconds while being pressed to his outside by Namaron (5-1) and jockey Florent Geroux. El Potente spurted away from that rival on the second turn, reached the quarter pole in 1:10.20 and was never challenged through the lane for an easy 3-length victory. Gas Me Up, the 7-5 second choice trained by Peter Eurton, rallied from last under Mirco Demuro to finish second. He was followed by Watsonville (11-1), Lord Bullingdon (19-1) and Namaron.
“My horse raced perfect,” Berrios said. “We went to the lead, but when I felt the pressure from the other horse (Namaron), my horse fought back and was really strong. On the turn, I asked him and he responded. Coming down the stretch, he just flew.”
El Potente, a 7-year-old full horse by Temple City, won in a time of 1:33.49. Last year, El Potente won the Thunder Road by three lengths in a time of 1:32.40.
“At the top level he is just better at a mile and he showed it today,” Blacker said. “We were just hoping he was going to run back to his race last year and he did.”
El Potente is owned by My Way Racing LLC. He improved to 17: 7-2-3 with more than $340,000 in earnings.
“I think he is just a horse naturally that has gotten better as he’s gotten older,” Blacker said. “I try to hope that all my horses are going to turn out better as they get older. Some of them do and some of them don’t. We are just fortunate enough that he’s super talented. It’s a credit to Mike (Way) the owner. He has been patient and we have given the horse time when he’s asked for it. He is thriving right now. He’s just a cool horse.”
For Berrios, a 38-year-old native of Chile, the Thunder Road was his 600th victory in North America.
“It’s exciting, absolutely,” Berrios said of the milestone. “My move here has been great. Let’s keep going. My agent (Michael Burns) is doing a good job and the trainers are supporting me.”
El Potente paid $4.00, $2.10 and $2.10. Gas Me Up, trained by Peter Eurton, returned $2.20 and $2.10. Watsonville, with Antonio Fresu up for trainer Mark Glatt, paid $2.80.
GRADE III, THUNDER ROAD STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
HECTOR I. BERRIOS, EL POTENTE, WINNER: “My horse raced perfect. We went to the lead, but when I felt the pressure from the other horse (Namaron), my horse fought back and was really strong. On the turn, I asked him and he responded. Coming down the stretch, he just flew.”
ON 600TH NORTH AMERICAN CAREER WIN: “It’s exciting, absolutely. My move here has been great. Let’s keep going. My agent is doing a good job and the trainers are supporting me.”
TRAINER QUOTES
DAN BLACKER, EL POTENTE, WINNER: “At the top level he is just better at a mile and he showed it today. We were just hoping he was going to run back to his race last year and he did. He is just a thrill and credit to the owner. He has been so patient. Mike Way is a great guy, just thankful for him. “I think he is just a horse naturally that has gotten better as he’s gotten older. I try to hope that all my horses are going to turn out better as they get older ,but some of them do and some of them don’t. We are just fortunate enough that he’s super talented. It’s a credit to Mike the owner. He has been patient and we have given the horse time when he’s asked for it. is just thriving right now. He’s just a cool horse.”
NOTES: The winning owner is My Way Racing, LLC.
