San Juan Capistrano Stakes (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
SA- For Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
June 28, 2015

At seven years of age, Bold Pretender has raced against some of the best horses in our racing world.  He hasn’t always beaten all of them, but he is always able to run competitively with them. He has won enough of them, as heading into this race he had won 12 of 61 career races.  Eight of those wins were in graded stakes, and a ninth was run for a purse that was good enough to be considered one as well.   While he had opened off 2015 with a win in the Grade 3 TAM Stakes, he had been in a little bit of a slump since then, although there was still plenty of positives about this horse and every reason to believe he could come up big here and we made him our pre-race favorite.  Despite this, he was made the second longest shot on the board, behind Jeremy, who no one seemed to like.   Today would be Bold Pretender’s day, and today’s winning race time of 2:24.25, made it the second fastest San Juan Capistrano Stakes in its history, behind only Dogma in 2006.  That’s not a bad one to say you finished second too. RNP Stables is the winning trainer, and it is the first time he has won this stake, and the same can be said for winning jockey K Desormeaux.   Let’s take a look at how this all unfolded.

1st- 4- Bold Pretender (7/1)- Quick out of the gate for RNP Stables, opening up by about a length over the downhill portion of the track for the run up to the stretch for the first time.  Set the opening half mile fraction in :48.86, and the 3/4 in 1:13.18.  During that portion, K Desormeaux just kept him truckin’ right along as there was not much pressure coming from behind.  Bold Pretender remained strong in the backstretch, at one point opening up by two full lengths.  Over the final turn, this gritty veteran showed no signs of tiring and actually increased his lead a bit on exit of the turn.  During the stretch run, Bold Pretender remained impressive, continuing to be in a graceful but powerful stride while never allowing the challengers to get close to him.  With that, he secured a two length win for himself in the aforementioned second fastest running of this stake, and his 13th career win.  Congratulations to all of the connections!  Bold Pretender is a seven year old gelding by Flaming Pretense and out of Laurel Honey. He was bred in California by Barcelona Farms and was with a couple other trainers before being purchased in the June 2013 auction for $55.010 by RNP Stables, where he has raced out of the majority of his career.

2nd- 3- Pure Violence (4/5)- Content to stalk the pace set by Bold Pretender early for Mb Stables.   R Bejarano was content just to ride along during the first frontstretch run, and into the clubhouse turn.  As Bold Pretender looked as though he might be ready to open up some distance in the backstretch, Pure Violence would be urged forward a little, which began some separation between the and Turandot.  Unable to get any closer to Bold Pretender during the final turn as they approached the top of the stretch.  Ran well in the stretch in that it allowed him to keep Turandot behind him and get the second place finish.

3rd- 5- Turandot (6/1)- The Paradise Stable entry stalked the early pace, running beside Pure Violence over the opening portion of the race.  Much like Pure Violence, he maintained this position about a length or two from the lead into the first turn of the main turf course.  Remained steady over the backstretch run and throughout the final turn.  During the stretch run, the defending winner of this race was unable to make any headway on either Bold Pretender or able to get by Pure Violence, who seemed to be half a length behind for the entire race.

4th- 2- Jeremy (71/1)- The longest shot on the board from Captainj was at the back of the pack in the early stages, running with Nitro Chip.  Backed off about a length from Nitro Chip as they went into the turn for the first time.  Never made any kind of move in the backstretch, and this may have been the time to do something.  In the final turn, he began to lose touch more with the leaders.  He was still out of it at the top of the stretch and had no kind of closing effort.

5th- 1- Nitro Chip (2/1)- At the back early for Nakamura Stables, but never really far from the pace, about three and a half lengths from the lead as they went down the stretch for the first time. Allowed for some distance to come between him and the Pure Violence-Turandot pairing over the front stretch run.  Lost distance in the backstretch, and was now six lengths back as they approached the final turn.  Never made up any ground.

Track: Firm
Time: :48⁴  1:13   2:00²  2:24¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 3 Paid 9.70
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 3 – 5 Paid 52.70

Scratched: Bald And Beautiful

Winner and Exacta picked by NS

— NS

Categories: Grade III