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A gate-to-wire win in the Mathis Mile for King of Gosford (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif. — History was made on the 90th anniversary of Santa Anita Park Thursday.
In the Grade II, $200,000 Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds on opening day of the Santa Anita Classic Meet, jockey Flavien Prat earned a record-breaking 56th graded stakes win this year when piloting King of Gosford to a front-running victory. Prat surpassed the previous mark of 55 graded stakes wins in a calendar year set in 2003 by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey.
“I think there couldn’t be a better place to win it than here at Santa Anita,” said Prat, a 32-year-old native of France. “It is definitely worth all the work when something like this happens.”
Starting from the inside post, King of Gosford broke best of all under Prat and proceeded to set fractions of 23.24 and 48.04 seconds for the opening half mile while receiving outside pressure from Atitlan (8-1) and Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. The two front-runners maintained their positions to the quarter pole, which was reached in 1:11.71.
At the top of the stretch King of Gosford edged away from Atitlan and then proved to have plenty left when holding off a late rally from Stay Hot (5-2) to win by one length. Trained by Phil D’Amato, King of Gosford completed one mile on firm turf in 1:34.49.
“He just took advantage of a nice, comfortable pace scenario,” D’Amato said. “Flavien did a great job of nursing him along easily up front, and when it was time to kick on at the top of the lane, he showed a big turn of foot.”
Stay Hot, ridden by Juan Hernandez for trainer Peter Eurton, finished a half-length clear of Atitlan for second with Lord Bullingdon (12-1) and Umberto Rispoli rounded out the superfecta.
For King of Gosford, this was his fourth stakes win this year and first at the graded level. Most recently, he won the Let It Ride Stakes going a mile on turf at Del Mar on Oct. 31. His other stakes wins, both at Santa Anita, came sprinting on the hillside turf course in the John Shear Mile in April and Desert Code Stakes in May.
Bred in England, where he made his first four starts, King of Gosford is a colt by Zoustar. He is campaigned domestically by Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT and Michael Nentwig, Saul Gevertz and Jeremy Peskoff. King of Gosford upped his overall record to 15: 6-2-2 with $519,692.
King of Gosford paid $3.40, $2.20 and $2.10 for the popular victory. Stay Hot returned $2.60 and $2.20 while Atitlan, trained by John Shirreffs, paid $2.80.
GRADE II, $200,000 MATHIS MILE QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
FLAVIEN PRAT, KING OF GOSFORD, WINNER: “I’m very pleased. There are a lot of people behind this. Me, my family, Mike and Phil, have been great supporters of me. And Mr. Mandella, who was great support when I first came here. I think there couldn’t be a better place to win it than here at Santa Anita. It is definitely worth all the work when something like this happens.”
JUAN HERNANDEZ, STAY HOT, SECOND: “There was no excuse. It was my first time on him and he is a very classy horse. I was in a good spot behind the speed but there wasn’t really a good speed advantage. The winner just got away. I am happy with his performance.”
TRAINER QUOTES
PHIL D’AMATO, KING OF GOSFORD, WINNER: “He just took advantage of a nice, comfortable pace scenario. Flavien did a great job of nursing him along easily up front, and when it was time to kick on at the top of the lane, showed a big turn of foot.
“I’m going to give him a 30-day break and then we’ll have him ready to go probably April or so, and hopefully campaign towards maybe a Breeders’ Cup Mile.”
OWNER QUOTES
MICHAEL NENTWIG, KING OF GOSFORD, WINNER: “He can do it all! He can run six, six and a half, mile, mile and an eighth. When this horse gets out in front, he sticks out his nose and neck and he doesn’t want to get passed.
“He’s definitely going to get a breather after this. We will get him ready for his races hopefully in June and through the summer. Hopefully we can do a Breeders’ Cup with him if all things go right.”
NOTES: The winning owners are Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, Saul Gevertz, Michael Nentwig and Jeremy Peskoff.
