Therecomesatiger was mediocre in his first start this season, much better in his second, and came to a peak on Saturday at Arlington Park in his third, winning the Sea O'Erin Breeders' Cup Handicap by a head over Le Cinquieme Essai.
The favored Fort Prado finished third, unable to keep alive a four-race winning streak or defend his title in the Sea O'Erin. Therecomesatiger ($5.60) was timed in 1:37.15 for a mile over a turf course rated "good."
Trained by Tom Proctor for owner Charles Patton, Therecomesatiger has raced at four different tracks, but Arlington might be his favorite. He won twice here last year at 3, and after a fifth-place finish in the
May 26 Mister Gus Stakes, his 2006 debut, and an improved third last month in the Grade 2 Firecracker BC, Therecomesatiger parlayed a furious closing kick into his fifth win in nine career starts.
The Sea O'Erin played out European-style, with Cougar Cat and Canadian invader Le Cinquieme Essai alternating through a dawdling half-mile split of 49.80 seconds, and the top finishers sprinting for home in a final quarter-mile that went in less than 23 seconds. Fort Prado got the worst of things, hung out a little wide from an outside post while racing at the back of a six-horse field, but Therecomesatiger saved ground all the way around the course after breaking from post 1. Jockey Mark Guidry actually let his mount fall back at bit at about the three-eighths pole, but found a seam as he picked up steam turning for home, pushing past a stubborn Le Cinquieme Essai in the final yards.
Total purse for the Sea O'Erin was just $114,500, because neither Therecomesatiger nor Fort Prado was eligible for the Breeders' Cup portion of the purse.