NEWS
Gio Ponti takes Sir Beaufort in synthetic debut
Posted: Friday, December 26, 2008 6:36 PM
GIO PONTI
Benoit & Associates photo
by Tim Nichols
Multiple graded stakes winner Gio Ponti closed with a rush in the final furlong to win the $100,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes in his synthetic surface debut at Santa Anita Park.
The three-year-old Tale of the Cat colt raced in last place for the first half of the one-mile race, then closed from fourth in early stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:34.92 on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface.
The race was moved off the turf, a surface on which Gio Ponti made his first eight career starts, winning four races, including two graded stakes earlier this year.
The Sir Beaufort was automatically downgraded one level, from a Grade 3 race to an ungraded race, pending a review by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
“We didn’t consider scratching,” said Nicholas Bachalard, assistant to winning trainer Christophe Clement. “He’s always done well over [the synthetic surface] in the morning, and Chris has always wanted to run him on it, so it was the right opportunity.”
Jockey Garrett Gomez rated Gio Ponti at the back of the nine-horse field as Icemancometh (Ire) set brisk fractions of :23.03 and :46.53 through a half-mile. Icemancometh continued to lead through six furlongs in 1:10.84 as Gio Ponti advanced to seventh.
As the field fanned out on the turn for home, Gomez patiently waited for an opening. Once he found daylight, he gave Gio Ponti his cue and the colt accelerated to a clear win as the 13-to-10 favorite.
“When we turned for home, I was trying to maneuver him around and he had other ideas about where he wanted to go, but we got it done,” Gomez said. “He’s a very talented horse and sometimes talented horses can run on anything.”
Medjool finished second, a head in front of third-place finisher El Gato Malo.
Gio Ponti improved to five wins in nine career starts, including the Hill Prince Stakes (G3) in June at Belmont Park and the Virginia Derby (G2) in July at Colonial Downs, and boosted his bankroll to $820,800 for owner Castleton Lyons.
Bred in Kentucky by Kilboy Estate Inc., Gio Ponti is out of the Alydar mare Chipeta Springs.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
