Cat Genius roars once again

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Cat Genius won his stakes debut and remained unbeaten in three starts with a front-running win in Friday's $100,000 Gilded Time Stakes at Arlington Park.

Never threatened, Cat Genius ($4) completed seven furlongs in 1:23.01. He took the lead a few strides out of the gate, angled over to the rail on the backstretch, and was always in command through fractions of 22.62 and 45.33 seconds.

"When I saw the first sixteenth of a mile, I thought, shame on them," trainer Tom Amoss said. "That gave him a huge advantage."

Ridden by Eusebio Razo Jr., Cat Genius pulled clear in the final furlong to win by five lengths over Desert Warrior, who was eighth in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 5 in his last start.

California invader Omega Code finished third, followed by Battle Tank and Prince in Command. Battle Tank lost for the first time following two wins. Marino Marini, a shipper from Ireland, and Coach Jimi Lee were scratched.

Amoss said that Cat Genius will ship to Churchill Downs. Owned by John Parker, Cat Genius has now won three starts by a combined 27 lengths. Following a maiden win by 10 1/4 lengths at Mountaineer Park on Aug. 11, Cat Genius was sent to Amoss at Arlington Park. He won an allowance race by 11 3/4 lengths on Sept. 20.

"He hasn't been challenged in the last part of a race yet," Amoss said. "He has no ideas what that means."