Bartholdy bound for Pincay after surprising win
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The former claimer Bartholdy will be entered in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 after recording an upset win in a tough 6 1/2-furlong allowance at Del Mar on Nov. 30. The $200,000 Pincay Stakes is run at 1 1 1/16 miles.
Bartholdy, claimed for $50,000 in August 2024, disputed the pace throughout the Nov. 30 race and won by 1 1/4 lengths. He earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 98.
The performance convinced trainer and co-owner Steve Knapp to consider the Pincay Stakes.
“I didn’t know he was good enough to beat those horses,” Knapp said over the weekend. “He can route. They’ll have to catch him. He’s a nice horse.”
On Nov. 30, Bartholdy beat a field that included the stakes winners Getaway Car and See Through It and the stakes-placed Elwood Blues and Judge Miller. Knapp co-owns Bartholdy with John Haagsma and Robert Vanderdussen.
The Dec. 26 program is the opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, a program that includes six stakes.
Knapp said he plans to run Berlin Wall in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds that day. Berlin Wall has won 2 of 5 starts, including his most recent race by 7 3/4 lengths in an allowance for California-breds at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 16.
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