King of Gosford (GB) © Benoit Photo
Great Britain-bred King of Gosford, the 3-2 favorite, flawlessly ridden by Flavien Prat, cruised to the lead at the top of the stretch and went on to win the $100,000 Let It Ride Stakes Friday, the day before the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Champions at Del Mar.
King of Gosford, trained by Phil d’Amato and owned by Benowitz Family Trust, scored by two and one-quarter lengths over well-supported Heart Headed, with British Isles another head back in third in the field of ten three-year-olds,
The winner, a son of Zoustar, stepped the one mile over a firm Jimmy Durante Turf Course in 1:34.76 and returned $5, $3.20 and $2.60 while earning first money of $60,000 with his fifth victory in 13 starts. He now has earnings of $339,692.
Runner-up Heart Headed paid $4.40 and $3.20, while British Isles returned $7.20 to show.
Racing resumes at Del Mar Friday with first post at 11;35 a.m.
FLAVIEN PRAT (King of Gosford, winner) — “The trip was good. Honestly, you know, I was a little worried with the draw, because it was a little bit tricky with our draw at this distance. But we got a good spot behind the leaders and he was very relaxed. He really accelerated when I asked him to run. He won pretty easily.”
PHIL D’AMATO (King of Gosford, winner) – “He’s developing. When he opened up daylight he was still green. I don’t know if he was looking at the big screen or what. He had his head cocked a little bit but he came back and wasn’t blowing at all. I think maybe a little extra ground would be without question. I thought we’d be sitting one, two, three. I think he (jockey Flavien Prat) recognized they were going super-fast and he laid back and it worked out very well.”
FRACTIONS: :22.18 :47.08 1:11.48 1:23.27 11:34.76
This was the first stakes win of the meet for rider Prat and his first in the Let It Ride. He now has 95 stakes wins at the track, tied with Alex Solis for sixth-most at the shore.
The tally was the first stakes of the meet for trainer D’Amato and his first in the Let It Ride. He now 65 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The winning ownership group is headed by Sandra Benowitz of Las Vegas, NV.