The San Diego Handicap – GII
                       DMR Race 7 1 1/16M – Dirt
                                Purse $200.000
                         Three Year Olds and Up

1st Benzar, trained by TwinTowers Racing

A bit of surprise winner here as I did not think this horse would win but possibly could run third or fourth but he ran a very big race and got the job done. He stalked the pace for most of the way and then hit the front and never looked back down the lane. He ran the race in 1:41.03 and earned $120.000 for the win.

2nd A Storm Has Arrived, trained by Maxmillion Farm

Definitely one who I didn’t see hitting the board at all really but he also ran a very big race and really surprised me with how good he ran. He sat midpack and then tried to run down the winner but couldn’t ever get close enough before the wire. He ran really good and surprised me for sure.

3rd Kiss The Snake, trained by Nakamura Stables

Well my top pick of the race tried to go wire to wire which most of the time is nearly impossible so that pretty much ended all of his chances when he wound up on the lead. He still ran pretty good though to hang on for third but I would’ve like to see what he would have done not being on the lead.

4th Duke Or Earl, trained by Gdp Inc

This Gdp Inc trained runner didn’t run too bad in here as he ran a decent fourth place finish. He stalked the pacesetter most of the way and then just got outkicked down the lane and could go with the top three. He still ran very good though and that far at all for the whole thing as he only got beat three lengths.

Summary

Well while my top pick did not win he ran a respectable third but let’s talk about the winner who was Benzar for TwinTowers Racing. He ran a very good race in here and finally broke through for a graded stakes win. He ran very big and looked good while winning. Congratulations to TwinTowers Racing.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES