La Jolla Handicap (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
DMR- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
August 9, 2015

Last month in the American Derby, Panther Cat trailed the field for the most of the race, and only very late did he make a move.  It ended up being a very impressive stretch performance, that got him up to the fourth position.  That day, I felt he just needed to have started that run sooner.  In all of his races in 2015 before this one, Panther Cat was always content to be a deep closer, but today his trainer Maxmillion Farms appears to have made a winning tactical adjustment.  This time, Panther Cat stalked the early pace, never more then a length back while maintaining a comfortable position along the rail.  In the stretch, he looked good, and was able to hold off a horse that had a run much like he would be used to having himself.  More detail on how the race played out will follow.  For trainer Maxmillion Farms, this is the first time he has won this stake.  However, jockey Mar Garcia has now won the race three times in his career.   It was a good race, and I do believe it lived up to its billing of producing a few that we will be hearing a lot more of in the future.  Now, for the race breakdown!

1st- 1- Panther Cat (6/5)- The eventual race winner from Maxmillion Farms was not in the mood to play catchup today, and instead jockey Mar Garcia wisely had him about two lengths off the lead while along the rail.  Late in the backstretch run, Garcia aggressively nudged Game Onn Dude down a lane as he positioned Panther Cat to the outside of Cue.  Handled the turn exceptionally well, and was clear by a little more then a length when they hit the top of the stretch.  With Scaffolding also handling the turn well and in good stride on the outside, and Lucky Spaniard closing behind him, Panther Cat could not afford to let up in the stretch.  He had just enough energy saved up for this run to hold off these hard chargers at the wire to earn his first career graded stake victory.  The time of the win was 1:39.73, the third fastest time ever recorded in the stake.  Panther Cat is a three year old colt by Pink Panther and out of the autogen Cats Tail.  He was bred in Kentucky by Maxmillion Farm, the only trainer in which he has ever known.  Congratulations to the connections!

2nd- 3- Lucky Spaniard (9/2)- While Panther Cat changed up his tactics, this other traditional deep closer did get to a decent start initially, before assuming his expected early position in the back for Nakamura Stables.  E Maldonado did well to keep him close enough to the leaders, and while the others were five wide in front of him, Lucky Spaniard was in good position to follow the leader of whatever lane moved the best, which meant following Panther Cat on through.  He would do this, and once he had the room, he moved to the outside of Panther Cat to try and make the pass for the win.  That bid would come up just short.

3rd- 4- Scaffolding (4/1)- The Mb Stables trained entry was at the back of the pack in the early stages, running with Lucky Spaniard.  M Smith started looking for a running lane midway in the backstretch, but with some aggressive moved being made in front of him, he had no other option but to swing Scaffolding five-wide for the run into the final turn.  Given this wide trip, you can make the case that he handled the turn even better then Panther Cat did.  In the end, though, the wide trip did him in during the stretch, and while he was still in an all out drive to the wire, there would have been a better finish had it been he on the rail.

4th- 2- Game Onn Dude (7/2)- Got off to a fairly good start for trainer Kingelleinc, running to the outside of Panther Cat in the early stages.  Remained in this position for most of the backstretch run, but when Panther Cat decided it was time to make a move, Game Onn Dude looked as though he was shoved down a lane.  That didn’t seem to bother him all that much, as he was still level with most of them throughout the turn.  In the stretch, however, there was no response and he faded out of contention.

5th- 5- Stonecold (9/1)- Good out of the gate for Waldo, moved up three wide in the opening turn in an effort to put pressure on pace-setting Cue.  This three wide lane became four wide as Panther Cat moved Game Onn Dude down a lane, which also meant Stonecold was nudged down a little as well.  Hung in there for the backstretch run and into the turn, and while he wasn’t bad, he didn’t have anything for the others in this field.

6th- 6- Cue (21/1)- Threshold’s longest shot on the board was sharp out of the gate, opening up about a two length lead into the opening turn.  Set the opening quarter in :23.56 and the half in :47.26.  In the turn, he was easily passed by Panther Cat, and eventually everyone else.  By the top of the stretch, he was at the back.

Track: Firm
Time: :23²  :47¹  1:10³  1:39³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 3 Paid 12.60
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 3 – 4 Paid 32.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III