Behind Enemy Lines takes Cutler Bay Stakes in North American debut

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Great Britain-bred Behind Enemy Lines made an auspicious North American debut with a professional two-length victory in the $100,000 Cutler Bay Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf Saturday at Gulfstream.

After breaking a step slow under Jose Ortiz, Behind Enemy Lines got a nice inside stalking trip down the backside, tipped out three-wide at the quarter pole and drew away comfortably. Anglophile rallied down the middle of the course under Javier Castellano to get second by a neck over Dunedin.

Trainer Jack Sisterson was at Dundalk the Jan. 4 day when Behind Enemy Lines won a six-furlong maiden race by 4 3/4 lengths. He quickly brokered a deal on behalf of owners David Talia, Gary Hartunian’s Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen.

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Sisterson thought the Cutler Bay, a two-turn, 7 1/2-furlong race would be the ideal spot for the son of Sioux Nation to make his first start.

“We thought it was good timing-wise, let him adapt two or three months and it worked out,” Sisterson said. “I have to give all the credit to the owners on this horse because sometimes you spend a lot of money on horses like this and you want to run them off the plane. They’ve allowed this horse to be a good horse and potentially a very good horse.”

Ortiz said he was expecting the horse, who made his first two starts in Europe, to break slow, but “I was able to put him where I wanted to; from the three-eighths pole to the quarter pole I was just waiting to see if I was going to go around or follow those two horses. I didn’t feel anybody coming from the outside so I had the opportunity to guide him to the outside and I did and he responded very well.”

Behind Enemy Lines covered the 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:30.35 and returned $8.40 as the second choice.

Sisterson said Behind Enemy Lines is bred to be more of a miler, but he may attempt to stretch him out to 1 1/16 miles in a race like Grade 2, $500,000 American Turf at Churchill Downs on May 6.

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