Bon Raison’s excellent adventure in Tale of the Cat
By Jeff Scott as the rest of the field – which had cleared him by three or four lengths – swung into the turn.
“They ran away from me, but I took my time,” said winning rider Irad Ortiz Jr. “That worked out better because I didn’t have to use much of my horse early. When I saw they were fighting [for the lead] up front, I knew that was good for me. I always knew [Bon Raison] had run for the end.”
Bon Raison got going partway around, passing a couple of horses as he traveled four-wide into the stretch. At this point, He Hate Me was about to get by pacesetting Pat On the Back, and it looked like he might have a clear lane to the finish. But Bon Raison found another gear nearing the sixteenth pole, corralling He Hate Me and edging away to prevail by three-quarters of a length.
He Hate Me held second by 2 ¾ lengths over Pat On the Back. Killybegs Captain, Ruler of the Nile and Skyler’s Scramjet also ran. Uno Mas Modelo and Eight Town were scratched. Bon Raison was clocked in 1:09.34 for six furlongs over a “fast” main track.
“I saw him in the paddock, and he’s always been a good-feeling horse,” said winning trainer Carlos Martin. “He was just on his game. When he made that run, I knew he was going to come strong. Irad really, really rode strong. Last time, he got off him and said, ‘I want to ride this horse no matter where you run him again.’ He was real excited, so that made us feel good.”
Bon Raison improved to 9-3-5 in 28 starts. The son of the A.P. Indy stallion Raison d’Etat, who races for Empire State Thoroughbreds, has earned $439,818. .