Award Winner notches first stakes triumph with Charles Whittingham upset

ARCADIA, Calif. - The upset win by Award Winner in Saturday’s Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita was as much of a surprise as the complete order of finish.

United, the 3-10 favorite, was never in contention and finished last of four.

Award Winner ($15.40) had an ideal trip under jockey Juan Hernandez to win his first stakes in his 17th start. Award Winner stalked the pace and took the lead late, the sort of trip United was expected to have.

Hernandez had Award Winner in second behind 9-1 Acclimate, who set a solid pace of 23 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.66 for a half-mile. For Hernandez, a stalking position was a comfortable one.

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Acclimate “had a lot of speed,” Hernandez said.

“I was waiting for the quarter-pole and he started to pick it up. He made a big run in the stretch.”

Award Winner took the lead in the final furlong and won by a head over Acclimate, who finished 2 1/2 lengths clear of Red King. United, third for the first mile, faded to finish 4 3/4 lengths behind Award Winner.

“He never traveled well,” jockey Flavien Prat said of United. “When I asked him, there was no response.”

A five-time stakes winner who was second at 51-1 in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf here, United won his 2021 debut in the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on March 20.

Hernandez expected a stern challenge from United or the two-time stakes winner Red King, but found Award Winner had an advantage over those rivals after the first mile.

“I checked at the quarter-pole to see if they were coming and I never saw them,” he said.

Award Winner ran 1 1/4 miles in 1:59.27 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96.

Hernandez was aboard the 5-year-old Award Winner in two of his last three starts in allowance races earlier this year, a second in his California debut on Jan. 8 and a comprehensive win by 2 1/2 lengths in an allowance race at 1 1/4 miles on March 27. In between, Award Winner was second in an allowance race at a mile when ridden by Abel Cedillo.

Owned by Amerman Racing, Award Winner has won four races and has earned $328,474. The $196,000 Whittingham Stakes was Award Winner’s first start in a stakes since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 National Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga in August 2019 when trained by Brian Lynch.

Award Winner is trained by David Hofmans, and was the 78-year-old trainer’s first graded stakes win since Melatonin in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June 2016.