by Jeff Apel

Multiple Grade 2 winner Molengao (Brz) gained command three wide in early stretch and drove clear under a brisk hand ride from jockey Victor Espinoza in a 4 1/2-length win in the $150,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap (G2) on Saturday at Hollywood Park.

Molengao impressed Espinoza after unleashing a determined four-wide rally on the turn. Drawing clear in midstretch, the six-year-old Royal Academy horse gamely earned his second graded stakes win of the season.

Six-year-old Molengao opened his season by winning the San Antonio Handicap (G2) on February 4 at Santa Anita Park. The chestnut horse entered off a runner-up finish in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) on March 3.

“The move he made was unbelievable. I had so much horse,” Espinoza said. “He covers a lot of ground; he’s such a big horse. His stride is about two for the others' one.”

Mambo Train and Billy Allen (Ire) dueled for the early lead in the 1 1/16-mile Mervyn LeRoy and set fractions of :46.82 for a half-mile and 1:11.59 for six furlongs. Molengao raced in sixth for a half-mile, unleashed a powerful move approaching the stretch, and gamely won the race in 1:42.86 on Hollywood's all-weather surface.

Multiple Grade 2-placed stakes winner Porto Santo (Fr) finished second, a nose in front of Grade 1 winner Buzzards Bay.

Paulo Lobo trains Molengao, the runner-up in the 2006 Sunset Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G2) and third-place finisher in last season’s Native Diver Handicap (G3), both at Hollywood.

A Stud TNT homebred, Molengao earned his fifth win in 15 starts in four seasons and increased his earnings to $588,477.

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor