NEWS
Ultimate Eagle dominant winner of Strub Stakes
Posted: Saturday, February 04, 2012 8:57 PM
ULTIMATE EAGLE WINS STRUB STAKES
Benoit & Associates photo
For video of the Strub Stakes, click here.
by Tim Nichols
All it took was a shake of the reins from jockey Martin Pedroza for Grade 1 winner Ultimate Eagle to lengthen his lead and jet to a 7¼-length romp in the $200,000 Strub Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
The four-year-old Mizzen Mast colt established himself as a force in the handicap division after covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.08 in his first start on dirt.
The commanding move on the turn by Ultimate Eagle proved breathtaking to the crowd and filled winning trainer Mike Pender with unshakeable confidence.
“I looked at the guy next to me, my groom, and I said, ‘It’s over,’ “ Pender said, recalling when Ultimate Eagle widened his lead. “We were standing together. I said the race is over. He took it to him at the half-mile pole, there was no catching him.”
The win kicks off what may be a thrilling 2012 for Ultimate Eagle after a tumultuous three-year-old campaign. The colt won four of eight starts, all on turf including the Hollywood Derby (G1), and also battled a case of colic which Pender called “life threatening.”
Now a graded stakes winner on dirt, Ultimate Eagle now has number of options going forward, including the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) on March 3.
“Without a doubt this is the best horse,” Pedroza said. “He’s like a freak. Believe me this horse is just learning how to run.”
Grade 1 winner Jaycito closed from sixth to finish second, 2¼ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Prayer for Relief. Multiple graded stakes winner and 4-to-5 favorite Tapizar challenge for the lead early on but finished fourth.
Bred in Kentucky, Ultimate Eagle improved to five wins and three thirds in nine starts for owner B. J. Wright. An earner of $467,800, Ultimate Eagle is one of three winners from as many starters out of multiple stakes winner Letithappencaptain, by Captain Bodgit.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Tim Nichols is Internet content editor of Thoroughbred Times
