Aligato notches stakes-debut victory in Unusual Heat Turf Classic
ARCADIA, Calif. - For a 5-year-old gelding who had never raced beyond six furlongs, Aligato had no problem winning his stakes debut in the $196,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic for California-breds at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Aligato ($8.40) closed from fifth in a field of seven to take the lead in the final furlong, performing as if he had ample race experience around two turns. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Aligato pulled clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths over the 9-year-old gelding Camino Del Paraiso, who was 8-1.
“When I got him to the outside, he kicked home,” Prat said of Aligato.
Ferrariano, also 8-1, led briefly in the stretch and finished third.
Aligato was timed in 1:48.29 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 87.
Prat rode Aligato for the first time in a race in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic, the richest race for older horses on Saturday’s California Cup program for statebreds. Prat worked Aligato earlier this month and found the gelding to be surprisingly patient in morning exercise.
“I was amazed he could run well short,” Prat said. “He doesn’t act like a sprinter. He’s not very speedy. He’s nice and relaxed.”
Prat had Aligato toward the back of a field on the backstretch, well behind Whooping Jay, who set modest early fractions of 23.81 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.05 for a half-mile, leading by as many as three lengths.
Whooping Jay could not sustain the advantage and yielded the lead to Ferrariano in the stretch. Aligato was third, trailing by less than a length, with a furlong remaining, and finished well in the final sixteenth.
Ferrariano was followed in the order of finish by Luvluv, Big Fish, Indian Peak and Whooping Jay, who was bet down from 4-1 as the field was being loaded to the 2-1 favorite. Margot’s Boy was withdrawn on Saturday morning after a “minor issue” was detected, trainer Craig Lewis wrote in a text message.
Aligato, who races for Double L Racing and trainer Mark Glatt, had a disrupted start to the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting during the holidays.
Aligato was entered in a one-mile allowance race on turf on Dec. 27 that was designed as a prep for the Unusual Heat Turf Classic.
When the race was transferred to the main track because of wet conditions, Glatt opted to scratch Aligato and run the gelding in a six-furlong allowance race on turf on Jan. 1. Aligato closed from 10th in a field of 11 to finish second by a nose.
The Unusual Heat Turf Classic was Aligato’s fifth start and his second win. By the proven turf-staying stallion Kitten’s Joy, Aligato has earned $177,440.