Beer Can Man ($41.20) pops an upset in DeMille Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. - Forget the shippers from high-profile Kentucky or Maryland stables, the European imports or the well-respected locals. The new colt on the scene from Indiana scored the upset win in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar on Sunday.

Beer Can Man, bought privately in October, won his stakes debut, first start in California, and first start at a mile in the $103,000 DeMille Stakes on turf.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Beer Can Man ($41.20) stalked the pace for the first six furlongs and took the lead in the final sixteenth, winning by a half-length over 6-1 Caisson.

“He waited pretty good,” Hernandez said. “At the quarter-pole, he started running when I asked him. He didn’t let the other horses pass him.”

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Commander Khai, who set the pace and led by two lengths with a furlong remaining, held third.

Ebeko, the winner of the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita in October who was ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Nov. 6, finished fourth, followed by Big Fish, Party Game, Royal Prince, Cotopaxi, Harlan Estate, Coastal Kid, and Wootton Asset.

Beer Can Man was timed in 1:34.75, winning his first start for Little Red Feather Racing and Sterling Stables and trainer Mark Glatt. Beer Can Man earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 75.

Beer Can Man, by the Into Mischief stallion Can the Man, won consecutive starts at five furlongs on turf at Indiana Grand in August and September, leading to the private purchase. In advance of the DeMille Stakes, Glatt expressed slight concern that Beer Can Man would be patient in his first start at a mile.

“It worked out perfectly,” Glatt said. “The way the turf course is playing, you get to going too quickly, you’re not going to be around at the end.

“He settled into a good spot. I thought it was very impressive.”

Beer Can Man previously raced for Ron Patterson and trainer Thomas Short.

Beer Can Man has won 3 of 5 starts and has earned $100,580. Glatt said the $75,000 Eddie Logan Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 27 could be Beer Can Man’s next start.