Country House looks like a good one in maiden win
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A terrible start almost always results in defeat, but in the case of a promising 3-year-old colt named Country House, a huge early deficit did not prove insurmountable Thursday at Gulfstream Park.
Under leading jockey Luis Saez, Country House broke very awkwardly from post 1 in the 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight race, immediately spotting the early leaders about 10 lengths. But Saez did not panic, and Country House ultimately proved vastly superior to his five opponents, passing them all with ease and prevailing by 3 1/2 lengths.
“That was nice of him, wasn’t it?” said Kenny McCarthy, the longtime assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
Country House finished in 1:44.99 to earn a mere 70 Beyer Speed Figure, but that number is based on raw time and does not account for the awful start. In his prior race on Dec. 1 at Aqueduct, Country House earned an 85 Beyer when finishing a close second.
Mott said Friday he had yet to consider a possible next start for Country House.
“It certainly was a visually impressive race,” he said. “We’ll just enjoy it for a day, I guess. We’ll come up with something, I’m sure.”
Country House was sired by Lookin At Lucky, best known as the sire of Accelerate, a 2018 Horse of the Year finalist. The colt was bred in Kentucky by the late Wall Street magnate Jerry Shields and is owned in partnership by his widow, Maury.
Mott is no longer a threat to be the leading trainer at Gulfstream, as he was in the 1990s and early 2000s when he earned nine training titles, but he’s always eligible to go on a roll. In fact, Country House capped a 9-for-21 tear that started with a Dec. 22 victory by the now-4-year-old colt Another.
