Intelligent Male upsets in Jewel
SHAKOPEE, Minn. - After dominating the trainer standings at Arlington Park in recent years, Wayne Catalano had nearly fallen off the Midwest radar screen following his well-publicized split earlier this year with Chicago-based owner Frank Calabrese.
But Catalano returned to Midwest prominence Saturday at Canterbury Park when Intelligent Male, an 18-1 outsider under Eddie Martin Jr., edged favored Musique Toujours following an exciting stretch duel in the last and richest race of the Claiming Crown series, the $145,500 .
"This is a sweet one," said Catalano.
Like many of the horses in the sizeable stable that Catalano now trains for the Turf Express Inc. of Mark Cornett, Intelligent Male had raced most recently at Mountaineer Park. Coming off a dominating victory in a May 2 allowance race, Intelligent Male finished a neck ahead of Musique Toujours, then survived an objection by Tyler Baze, rider of the runner-up, to claim easily the richest victory of his 19-race career.
Baze objected following a stretch run in which the top two finishers raced in tight quarters just off the rail. Rize, the 3-1 second choice in a field of 11, momentarily was caught between them after leading from the early stages, but he beat a steady retreat, leaving the top two to soldier on. Rize wound up third, 2 1/4 lengths behind Musique Toujours.
Intelligent Male, a gray 4-year-old gelding, was bred in South Carolina. He paid $39.80 after finishing 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.62 over a fast track.
The Jewel result completed a shutout for both trainer Scott Lake, the leading trainer in Claiming Crown history, and Rafael Bejarano, the nation's leading jockey in wins. Lake went winless with seven starters, including three in the Jewel, and Bejarano went 0 for 6, including Rize.
Even with just one winning favorite in the series, there were three winning tickets sold in the $1 pick six, each worth $18,756.60.
All-sources handle for the day was on par to break easily the Claiming Crown record of nearly $3.2 million, set last year.