June 26, 2021

$250.000 Grade 2 for 4YOs+ Carrying 122lbs

 One Mile and One Sixteenth (Turf) 

Stakes Record: Aggravation (2016); Devilish Details (2019) 1:39.26

Track Record: Clear The Way (2012) 1:38.67

A field of 10 entered the starting gate at CD on Saturday for the $250.000 G2 Wise Dan.  Included in the field were five previous graded stakes winners, but it was Nakamura Stables’ Hollywood Capo (Capo Di Tutti Capi o/o Hollywood Fog) who crossed the wire in front to join their ranks.  The Nakamura Stables’ gelding completed the 8.5 furlongs in a snappy 1:39.34 to just miss the stakes record in his trainer’s first victory in the race.

Hollywood Capo broke well and raced in tandem with Ghost From The North behind the front-running duo of Mucho Baked and Invercargill as the field passed the judges for the first time.  After a half mile, the top 4 were still in their tandems and Ohtani was moving to join the 2nd pair while King Que Niagra was out in the three path in 6th.

Rounding the turn, Mucho Baked led Invercargill through three-quarters in 1:09.72 while Hollywood Capo (saving all of the ground), Ghost From The North (in the four path), and Ohtani (in the three path) were being joined by King Que Niagra (widest of all).  That quartet had a substantial advantage over World In Change, Lets Do It Big Boy, and Teddy Tap who raced together in a line about four lengths in front of the trailer, Going Gone.

As the horses reached the 1/8 pole, Invercargill started to tire and now it was up to Hollywood Capo, Ghost From The North, King Que Niagra, and Ohtani to try to run down an emboldened Mucho Baked.  Passing the 1/16 pole, Hollywood Capo put his nose in front of a stubborn Mucho Baked.  King Que Niagra was next, followed by the pair of Ghost From The North and Ohtani with Lets Do It Big Boy and World In Changes putting in runs to close the gap.

The closer they got to the wire, the closer the margins between the first six horses got.  In the end, all of the ground saved by V R Carrasco may have made the difference as Hollywood Capo struck the wire 1/2 length in front of King Que Niagra (who was racing at least 7-8 wide) with the valiant Mucho Baked another 1/2 length back and a head in front of Ghost From The North who finished 4th.

When asked at what point he started feeling confident, Nakamura Stables replied, “When he stayed tight to the hedges turning for home.”  With the win, Hollywood Capo improved his career record to 15-4-3-3, upped his career earnings to $354.680, and earned 6 points towards qualification for the BC Turf (G1); jockey V R Carrasco claimed his first victory in the G2 Wise Dan.  With his 2nd place finish, King Que Niagra earned 4 BC points and Mucho Baked came away with 2 points for his effort.

Congratulations to Hollywood Capo and Nakamura Stables, victorious in the G2 Wise Dan!      

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES