NEWS
Georgie Boy regains top form in Sprint
Posted: Saturday, January 24, 2009 8:01 PM
GEORGIE BOY OBLITERATES FIELD AT SANTA ANITA
Benoit & Associates photo
by Mike Curry
Grade 1 winner Georgie Boy surged into contention from the inside and accelerated clear to a convincing 2 1/4-length win in the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
The Tribal Rule gelding secured his first win in more than ten months and showed he could be a force to be reckoned with as a four-year-old with a visually impressive burst of speed.
After saving ground under Garrett Gomez while Machismo set a sizzling pace through an opening quarter in :21.79 and a half-mile in :44.34, Georgie Boy launched his winning bid on the turn and powered into contention from along the rail. He drove clear with an electric turn of foot to prevail in 1:08.12 on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface.
Georgie Boy was one of the top Southern California contenders on last year’s Triple Crown trail after posting three straight graded stakes wins. He missed the Triple Crown races after pulling a muscle in his back and finished fourth in his return more than seven months later in the Damascus Stakes on the undercard of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park.
Trained by Kathy Walsh for owner-breeder George Schwary, Georgie Boy entered the Sunshine Millions off a third-place finish in the Malibu Stakes (G1) on December 26 at Santa Anita.
"I thought this race would help him because his last couple of races he's been pretty keen. I've had to fight him a little bit,” Gomez said. “Before, he was just kind of like a high school kid who wants to play all the time. So now he's figured out he wants to run."
Out of the stakes-winning Peterhof mare Ippodamia, Georgie Boy improved to five wins in ten starts and boosted his earnings to $698,634.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
