Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
LEAPING FORWARD
CATAPULT GETS PREP FOR BC MILE,
DEL MAR, Calf. – Two months into his 2018 campaign Catapult has developed into a leading middle-distance turf runner in California.
Catapult rallied furiously through the final furlong of the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 22 to win by a neck at 21-1. A win in Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf would put Catapult on schedule for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.
“It’s a possibility,” trainer John Sadler said of the BC Mile. “He’s a very good horse. He ran a fast race the other day.”
Owned by Woodford Racing, Catapult, 5, won his first graded stakes in the Eddie Read Stakes. The race was his second for Sadler. Catapult was trained by Chad Brown for his first 12 starts, from 2015 to 2017.
The $200,000 Del Mar Mile drew a field of 13, eight of whom have won a stakes this year.
The California middledistance turf division has lacked consistency this year. Bowies Hero won the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March, but was fourth in the Eddie Read. Hunt won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May, but was 10th in the Eddie Read. Om won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita in February, but has been fourth or sixth in three subsequent Grade 1 races.
All three start in the Del Mar Mile.
Catapult and Bowies Hero figure to be well supported in the Del Mar Mile, along with Sharp Samurai, who was second in the Eddie Read Stakes after leading in the final strides, and Fly to Mars, who won the California Dreamin’ Stakes for statebreds in a course-record time of 1:39.50 for 1 1/16 miles on July 28.
KEY CONTENDERS
Catapult, by Kitten’s Joy Last 3 Beyers: 101-96-95
◗ Catapult was second behind Sharp Samurai in an allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in June. In the Eddie Read Stakes, Catapult closed from sixth in the final furlong to secure the win. Drayden Van Dyke was aboard for those races and has the mount Sunday.
“The first time he ran he was a little rank and Drayden got to know him,” Sadler said. “In the second race, he put it together.”
◗ Catapult drew the rail on Sunday and should have pace to follow from What a View, Om, and Fly to Mars.
“I think the race will come up with a lot of speed,” Sadler said.
Sharp Samurai, by First Samurai Last 3 Beyers: 101-99-98
◗ Sharp Samurai looked like a winner in the Eddie Read until Catapult caught him. The Eddie Read was Sharp Samurai’s stakes debut against older horses. As a 3-year-old last year, Sharp Samurai won four consecutive stakes, including the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby.
◗ A shorter trip could be a benefit for the gelding.
“I think he’s a high-energy horse and a flat mile is within his reach,” trainer Mark Glatt said. “He ran awfully hard the other day.”
Bowies Hero, by Artie Schiller Last 3 Beyers: 99-101-103
◗ Bowies Hero has been raced sparingly this year. The Del Mar Mile is his fifth start and third since a win in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile on March 10.
◗ In the Eddie Read Stakes, Bowies Hero closed from eighth to finish a length behind Catapult. With luck, Bowies Hero would have been closer. Bowies Hero raced in traffic in the final sixteenth and was beaten threequarters of a length for third.