On an afternoon when stablemate and Triple Crown champion American Pharoah stunningly lost in the $1.6 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga in New York, Gimme Da Lute salvaged a small amount of success for the barn of trainer Bob Baffert with a hard-earned triumph Saturday in the featured $100,000 El Cajon Stakes for three-year-olds at Del Mar.
In a three-way battle down the stretch, Gimme Da Lute, the 1-5 favorite under jockey Martin Garcia, prevailed by a half-length over Fame and Power, also trained by Baffert and piloted by Rafael Bejarano. Desert Dynamo was third, a neck behind the runner-up under Flavien Prat. Completing the field as a distant fourth was Thanksgiving Day. Withdrawn from the original line-up were Iron Fist and Rocko’s Wheel.
Prat claimed foul against the winner for alleged interference in the stretch, but the stewards disallowed the claim after viewing the race replays.
Gimme Da Lute, owned and bred by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, is a son of Midnight Lute. The victory was his sixth in nine starts and fourth consecutive added-money triumph. First money of $60,000 increased the colt’s earnings to $637,560. Previously this summer, he won the Affirmed Stakes, the Los Alamitos Derby and the Real Good Deal stakes.
Gimme Da Lute ran the one mile on the main track in 1:35.79 and returned $2.40 and $2.10. Fame and Power paid $2.60. There was no show wagering because of the small field.
There were two perfect tickets in the Pick Six and each paid $50,065.80.
Attendance totaled 24,031 Saturday.
MARTIN GARCIA (Gimme Da Lute, winner) – “When you’ve only got three or four horses in a race, it’s harder to figure out what’s going to happen. They all wanted to go for the lead in that first turn, so I let them go. Then we went to work. I know that rider (Flavien Prat on Desert Dynamo) claimed foul, but he was always behind me and never going to get past. My horse is a fighter. He did that today.”
RAFAEL BEJARANO (Fame and Power, second) – “He ran good today.”
FLAVIEN PRAT (Desert Dynamo, third) – “The winner caused me to change course. That’s why I claimed foul. But my horse ran well.”
MIKE MARLOW, assistant to Bob Baffert (Gimme Da Lute, winner) – “It was kind of a funny run race. It was good early, then it looked like Martin (Garcia) might have made a bit of a premature move. But watching the replay, he had more room than it looked like from the stands when he went through (between horses) there. He ran a game race, he ran tough. He had every reason to get beat and he didn’t.”
FRACTIONS: :22.48 :45.62 1:10.27 1:22.74 1:35.79
The stakes win was the third of the meet for rider Garcia, but his second (Celestic Night, 2011) in the El Cajon. He now has 22 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The stakes win was the third of the meet for trainer Baffert, but his seventh in the El Cajon. He now has 111 stakes wins at Del Mar, the most of any conditioner.
The winner is owned by – and was bred by – Mike Pegram of Del Mar and Scottsdale, AZ, as well as two gentlemen from Tucson, AZ – Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.