NEWS
Pioneerof the Nile scores in CashCall Futurity
Posted: Saturday, December 20, 2008 7:24 PM
PIONEEROF THE NILE (outside) EDGES I WANT REVENGE AT HOLLYWOOD
Benoit & Associates photo
by Jeff Apel
Pioneerof the Nile narrowly edged I Want Revenge at the finish and earned a nose win in the $750,000 CashCall Futurity (G1) on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
Pioneerof the Nile made his first start in the 1 1/16-mile race for trainer Bob Baffert, who joined Racing Hall of Fame member D. Wayne Lukas as the only four-time winner of the Futurity. Baffert’s previous wins in the race, formerly known as the Hollywood Futurity, occurred in 1997 with Real Quiet, ’99 with Captain Steve, and 2000 with Point Given.
Lukas’s wins in the race took place in 1981, ’87, ’89, and ’98.
The 7-to-5 favorite in the field of 11 two-year-olds, Pioneerof the Nile raced in third in early stretch, more than one length off the pace. Quickly seizing command, Pioneerof the Nile gamely turned back a determined I Want Revenge and won in 1:41.95 on Hollywood’s synthetic Cushion Track surface.
“They told me in the paddock he’s still a bit green and likes to wait on horses,” winning jockey Garrett Gomez said. “But that’s a good thing because he’s got a lot of room for improvement.
“When he saw that other horse [I Want Revenge] coming on the inside, he really dug in. If we had gone around again I don’t think the other horse was going to go by him.”
Frumious and Ventana dueled for the lead through fractions of :47.08 for a half-mile and 1:11.34 for six furlongs. Pioneerof the Nile raced in fifth through an opening quarter-mile in :23.42 and moved up to third on the backstretch.
Gaining command on the outside of foes, Pioneer of the Nile gamely earned his first stakes win. The Empire Maker colt is the first homebred to start for Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables.
“Unbelievable—a huge effort,” Zayat said. “Today the track was playing speed, all inside. He’s a horse that comes from back.
“He is a May foal by Empire Maker. Typically, they are not precocious, but that’s the heart this horse has.”
Bill Mott previously trained Pioneerof the Nile, the third-place finisher in the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G1) on October 4 at Keeneland Race Course. The colt entered the CashCall Futurity off a fifth-place finish in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on October 25 at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita Park.
Pioneerof the Nile earned his second win in five career starts and increased his earnings to $544,200. A half brother to multiple graded stakes-placed winner Forefathers, Pioneerof the Nile is out of stakes winner Star of Goshen, by Lord At War (Arg).
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor
