BEN’S CAT UPSET BY STABLEMATE KENS CAPE IN ALLOWANCE TEST
BALTIMORE, 04-21-12---King Leatherbury got career win number 6,341 in the fourth race Saturday afternoon but not from 10-time stakes winners Ben's Cat. Kens Cape upset a strong allowance field at odds of nearly 20-1 in a thrilling stretch drive, while Ben’s Cat beat just two horses, finishing about three lengths behind his stablemate in the 5-furlong turf sprint.
“It was good to win the race but nobody expected that,” Leatherbury said.
Leatherbury, who owns, trains and bred the even money favorite, was looking for a prep race for Ben’s Cat before sending him out to defend his title in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Black-Eyed Susan day, but the legendary conditioner got much more than he bargained for in today’s fourth race.
Ben’s Cat was in his usual position after the break, racing towards the back of the field but quickly found traffic problems instead of clear sailing. Jockey Horacio Karamanos had to steady the son of Parker’s Storm Cat after Diski Dance moved inside and they were too far out of it by the time the field started down the home stretch for Ben’s Cat to launch his patented winning bid.
“We got into trouble at the three-eighths pole when the pressure came from outside and the horse inside of me (Congressional Page) had nowhere to go,” Karamanos said. “My horse got bumped very hard and he just did not have enough time to recover with his normal run.”
Kens Cape, with Erick Rodriguez, stalked the leaders around the turn and closed determinedly to prevail by a neck over Ju Jitsu Jax. Super Chunky and Suzzona dead-heated for third. Ken’s Cape paid $41.80 and topped a $638 exacta.
The winner was claimed by Leatherbury in December and has not been off the board in five starts in his new barn. The 5-year-old son of Cape Town is seven-of-26 with earnings of $200,750.
“He ran a dynamite race,” added Leatherbury. “He has been right there in all of his races. He is a hard-knocking horse.”
Ben’s Cat won the Mister Diz Stakes here on April 7 for the third consecutive year in his 6-year-old debut. The son of Parker’s Storm Cat, who had to recover from a broken pelvis before he made his first career start just two years, is now 15 of 22 with lifetime earnings of $846,090.
-mjc-
PHOTO CREDIT- Jerry Dzierwinski, Maryland Jockey Club
Mike Gathagan
Vice President-Communications
Maryland Jockey Club
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