Lieutenant Dan leads all the way in Green Flash Handicap

DEL MAR, Calif. - Lieutenant Dan won his first stakes in 17 months in Sunday’s Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap on turf at Del Mar, leading throughout the race to record a comfortable 2 1/4-length win.

Ridden by Geovanni Franco, Lieutenant Dan ($6) was timed in 55.98 seconds and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 100. The 5-year-old gelding dueled with 8-1 Give Me the Lute through fractions of 22.16 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.52 for a half-mile before taking a one-length lead with a furlong remaining.

“I think the horse was well within himself in the whole race,” Franco said. “When I turned him loose, he took care of it.”

Lieutenant Dan was the subject of a substantial late win bet that reduced his odds from 7-2 when the field was nearing the gate for the $101,500 Green Flash.

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Give Me the Lute held second, finishing a neck in front of 4-1 Gregorian Chant, who closed from seventh with a wide rally.

Kneedeepinsnow finished fourth, followed by Little Juanito, Texas Wedge, Collusion Illusion, and Chasin Munny.

Lieutenant Dan, by Grazen, races for owner and breeder Nick Alexander and trainer Steve Miyadi. A winner of 7 of 15 starts, Lieutenant Dan has earned $543,740. Lieutenant Dan was a multiple stakes winner in 2019 and 2020, but was sidelined from June 2020 until last month when he won an allowance race at five furlongs on turf.

Lieutenant Dan won the Sensational Star Stakes for statebred sprinters at Santa Anita in March 2020 and was rested following a second in the Crystal Water Stakes for statebreds at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in June 2020.

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