Trainer Antonio Sano sent out one winner on Saturday’s 11-race program at Calder Casino & Race Course to break out of a tie with Nick Canani and lead 17-16 in the Tropical Meet standings with four days to go until the session closes Friday.
Sano has a big numbers edge over Canani in the entries for the final days, but Steve Dwoskin is still very much in the hunt in third with 15 victories and plenty of opportunities in the final days. Jose Pinchin and Jose Garoffalo are tied for fourth at 12 apiece.
Sano has only one runner in Sunday, Canani one, and Dwoskin is entered in three races. Monday, Sano has two, Canani none, and Dwoskin is in four races. Thursday, Sano has two, Canani none, and Dwoskin three with the competition for the title likely to go down to the final card on Friday.
Jockey Luis Saez has had his first ever Tropical title sewn up for weeks with more than twice the number of wins as his closest rival; and had another big day Saturday riding three winners, most notably guiding Stella Perdomo’s remarkable 9-year-old German-bred Musketier to victory in the $150,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap (G2) for trainer Roger Attfield.
Saez, who has won the last two Calder Meet championships, has now posted 62 victories for the Tropical Meet with Daniel Centeno far back in second at 28, followed by Orlando Bocachica third with 27 tallies, and Fernando Jara fourth with 25.
The Tropical Meet closes Friday with a program highlighted by renewals of the $100,000 La Prevoyante Handicap (G3) for fillies and mares at 1 ½ miles on turf and the $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
Awesome Feather Remains Perfect in Gazelle Saturday
Stronach Stable’s 3-year-old filly Awesome Feather, the star juvenile development in 2010 at Calder Casino & Race Course, remained undefeated in eight career starts winning the $250,000 Gazelle Stakes (G1) Saturday at Aqueduct by 5 ¼ lengths for trainer Chad Brown with regular jockey Jeffrey Sanchez flying up from Calder for the mount.
Awesome Feather was bred in Florida and raced last year by Fred Brei’s Jacks or Better Farm and trained by Stanley Gold to win her first five starts at Calder, including a sweep of three filly divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes series. Jacks or Better and Gold posted FSS ‘open’ division sweeps in 2009 with Jackson Bend and again this summer with Fort Loudon.
A daughter of Jacks or Better stallion Awesome of Course, Awesome Feather made a dramatic entrance onto the national stage winning the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs by 2 ¼ lengths on Nov. 5 last fall, sealing an Eclipse Award campaign, ridden in all of her starts by Sanchez.
The powerful Stronach Stable purchased Awesome Feather for $2.3 million shortly after the Breeders’ Cup out of the Fasig-Tipton November and she was placed with Brown. A tendon problem precluded her from racing through most of the 2011 campaign, but she came back strong to win the Le Slew overnight stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 5 as a tune-up for her big victory in the Gazelle with Sanchez retained as the rider by the new connections.
Brown indicated after the Gazelle that tentative plans call for Awesome Feather to ship into Palm Meadows where she will be pointed for the $300,000 Florida Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. The victory Saturday pushed her career earnings to $1,681,000.
Sanchez rode three winners at Calder on Friday before his successful day trip and was back at Calder to accept mounts on Sunday’s card.