Cutback to sprint helps Beau Wizer upset Pepsi Cola at 19-1

Beau Wizer outdueled 4-5 favorite Russian Lane, then held off It’s Tera for a neck win in the $120,000 Pepsi Cola at Sunland Park on Saturday. It’s Tera held second, a half-length in front of Capitol Guy.

Russian Lane, who had won 4 of 5 starts heading into the Pepsi Cola, finished seventh.

Beau Wizer ($40.80) dueled through a half-mile in 45.20 seconds before going on to cover the six furlongs on a fast track in 1:11.53.

“We had a good trip,” said Casey Lambert, who rode Beau Wizer for trainer Ray Ashford Jr. “He broke really sharp and was cruising along.”

Beau Wizer became a stakes winner Saturday. He is a son of the young stakes-winning stallion Premeditation and the stakes-winning mare Miss Einstein. Beau Wizer races for the partnership of W.D. Carson Sr., M.H. Carson, and Leach Racing.

Beau Wizer came into the race off a seventh-place finish in the $120,000 Red Hedeman Mile at Sunland on Dec. 30.

“Backing him up to a sprint might have helped today,” said Ashford.