Cooptado shows old form in Tenacious Stakes

Cooptado has lived several lives. The 7-year-old gelding has been based in Dubai and Signapore and this year came to America to campaign with trainer Tom Morley. Saturday at Fair Grounds, Cooptado reached back to even deeper roots winning the $74,250 Tenacious Stakes by a nose over Shut the Box.

As a young horse in his native Argentina, Cooptado had been a very good dirt horse, compiling a 4-1-0 record that included a Group 1 victory in six starts on the surface. All his recent races had been on turf or all-weather surfaces, but Morley, looking back to the strong dirt form, albeit more than three years old, decided to conduct a dirt experiment.

“We wanted to try him on it at some point to see if he still enjoyed it,” Morley said. “He was gutsy as hell at the end.”

Indeed, Cooptado, after getting a lovely pocket trip under Declan Cannon, came up the rail and fought tooth and nail with Shut the Box through the final furlong, just forging to the front in the final 50 yards or so. As Sticksstatelydude led Field of Courage through fractions of 24.38 and 47.94, Cannon and Cooptado raced along the rail just behind them. Midway around the turn, Cooptado had to be asked to hold his position, but that apparently is standard for this horse. Once straightening for home, he was back to business.

“He tends to hit a little flat spot mid-race,” Cannon said. “It was good to see him finish.”

Cooptado, somehow the longest price in the race at just less than 18-1, paid $36.40 to win and ran one mile and 70 yards on a fast track in 1:42.78. Leofric ran late for third, 1 1/2 lengths behind the top two. Money Flows, the 7-5 favorite, was in contention to the eighth pole but faded to finish fifth.

Cooptado, a millionaire, is by Equal Stripes and out of Coordinada, by Ride the Rails. He won for the sixth time in 36 starts but had lost 16 races in a row, a losing streak dating to November, 2015. It took a surface switch – and a move to yet another continent – to get Cooptado back in the winner’s circle.

Imma Bling pops in Bonapaw

Imma Bling won the $74,250 Bonapaw Stakes in an 11-1 upset, but his price was short compared to the two horses behind him. Second by a length was 23-1 Balandeen, while 38-1 Show Bound rounded out a trifecta that included the three longest-priced horses in the race and paid $2,106.70 for $1.

Imma Bling and jockey Joe Bravo stalked the pace while racing wide, took over in midstretch, and had plenty left to beat Balandeen by a neck. Balandeen rallied from last on the outside and was one length better than Show Bound, who came up the inside for third.

Imma Bling ran about 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf in 1:04.67 and paid $24.60 while winning for the seventh time in 31 starts. Imma Bling is owned by Flurry Racing Stable and trained by Karl Broberg, the connections that claimed him for $25,000 in his most recent start, on Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs. Imma Bling is a 4-year-old gelding by Too Much Bling out of Imma Be a Wildcat, by D’wildcat.

► The exciting 2-year-old colt Principe Guilherme ran his record to two starts, two blowout wins with a 11 3/4-length pasting of first-level allowance foes in race 5. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Principe Guilherme, a son of Tapit, went straight to the lead in this two-turn race and never looked back, widening through the stretch call to run one mile and 70 yards in 1:42.94, a fine time for a 2-year-old.