Count Again reels in and blows by Smooth Like Strait to win Shoemaker Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Count Again delivered an explosive rally under red-hot jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to win the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on Monday at Santa Anita.

Count Again ($7) blew past odds-on Smooth Like Strait to win the Shoemaker Mile by 2 1/4 lengths and earn an all fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile in November at Keeneland.

“That was impressive,” trainer Phil D’Amato said.

He was not exaggerating. Count Again, who benefited by a hot pace set by stablemate Dance Some Mo, rallied from last, angled outside for the drive, ran his final quarter-mile in approximately 22.80 second,s and won clear in 1:32.40. It was the fastest turf mile of the meet and the race earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure, the second fastest number of the year behind Golden Pal's 110.

:: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures

Smooth Like Strait, undoubtedly compromised by the fast pace (45.58 and 1:09.02), finished second, some 3 1/2 lengths clear of Masteroffoxhounds. Heywoods Beach, Restrainedvengence, and Dance Some Mo completed the order of finish.

The win by Count Again was his second Grade 1 of the meet. The 7-year-old gelding by Awesome Again, owned by breeder Sam-Son Farm and Agave Racing, won the Frank E. Kilroe Mile in March, and in his most recent start finished sixth in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland.

“I wanted this one really bad,” D’Amato said following his fourth victory in the Shoemaker. He said Count Again “deserves to be recognized as one of the top milers in the division.”

He certainly is the top turf miler based on California, ridden by the hottest jockey. Ortiz won four of the first five Santa Anita races Monday including the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on There Goes Harvard. Ortiz was riding Count Again for the first time, as his regular rider, Flavien Prat, committed to Smooth Like Strait.

The race set up perfectly for Count Again. His stablemate rabbit, Dance Some Mo, was hustled out of the gate to set a blistering pace. Smooth Like Strait inherited the lead on the far turn when the pacesetter surrendered, and opened up by 2 1/2 lengths at the quarter pole. But the pace took its toll, and Count Again was on the move.

:: Win big at Santa Anita: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and Betting Strategies.

Count Again ran past Smooth Like Strait at the furlong pole and was gone. Count Again has won seven races and $1,069,915 from 17 starts. D’Amato’s previous Shoemaker winners were Obviously (2014), Midnight Storm (2016), and Hunt (2018).

The loss by 2-5 favorite Smooth Like Strait was his sixth consecutive defeat since he won the Shoemaker Mile one year ago.