Manny Wah closes from last to upset Phoenix Stakes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Cat Daddy is going back to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, thanks to an improbable stretch run Friday by Manny Wah in the Grade 2, $350,000 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland.
“It’s what we’re all in this business for – these big races,” said an elated Wayne Catalano, widely known as Cat Daddy or Cat Man to his countless racetrack friends.
Remarkably, Manny Wah and jockey Corey Lanerie were still last after the field of eight older sprinters straightened for home in the six-furlong Phoenix. Suddenly, nearing the eighth pole, the 6-year-old horse found high gear, weaving inward and through traffic to get closest to the inner rail, where he was along just in time to prevail by a neck over Long Range Toddy.
Manny Wah, owned by Susan Moulton, returned $37.14 after finishing in 1:10.31 over a fast track. Long Range Toddy, a 19-1 shot, was another neck before 14-1 Top Gunner, who led for most of the stretch run before tiring to be third.
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Aside from capturing the biggest race of his 34-race career with his fifth victory, Manny Wah also earned the automatic Win and You’re In berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, to be run here Nov. 5. Catalano upset the BC Sprint last year with Aloha West.
Retired jockey Shane Sellers, an eight-time leading rider at Keeneland, is the Moulton’s longtime beau. Catalano and Sellers have been friends for nearly 40 years, since their days together on the Chicago and Louisiana racing circuits.
“I’m just so happy for Shane and Ms. Susan,” Catalano said.
Manny Wah, a Kentucky-bred by Will Take Charge, “is everybody’s favorite in the barn,” Catalano said. “He’s had some bad luck in his career, but this sure helps to make up for it.”
“Wayne told me to ride the horse with confidence and that hopefully the pace would fall apart,” Lanerie said. “Turning for home, to be honest, I didn’t know if I was going to catch them, but when he saw that last little hole, he found another gear.”
The 170th Phoenix developed in somewhat peculiar fashion, with Sibelius, the 7-5 favorite, failing to break as expected with the early leaders, Special Reserve and Top Gunner. Sibelius never could catch up, finishing fourth, while Special Reserve faded to last as the 5-2 second choice.
Sibelius, ridden by Junior Alvarado, “broke a little slower than ideal,” said his trainer, Jerry O’Dwyer. “It was pretty disappointing.”
Aloha West is still in training at age 5 but will miss the BC Sprint, a six-furlong race for which Jackie’s Warrior is the early favorite. Aloha West breezed an easy half-mile Thursday at Churchill Downs in his first work since he won the Kelly’s Landing on July 2 at Churchill.
The $2 exacta (7-8) paid $364.68, the $1 trifecta (7-8-3) returned $1,737.48, and the 10-cent superfecta (7-8-3-5) was worth $832.53.
The Phoenix, the oldest stakes race in America, was the first of three stakes on opening day of the 17-day fall meet.
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