Pat Day Mile: Macho Music takes early lead over Madaket Road, scores upset
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE?q=100)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A speed horse won the Pat Day Mile. Just not the speed horse most handicappers thought would.
Macho Music, dismissed at 13-1, outsprinted favored Madaket Road to the early lead under Javier Castellano and kept on going to win the Grade 2, $600,000 Pat Day Mile by 3 1/4 lengths at sloppy Churchill Downs. Madaket Road, the 5-2 favorite, held off his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Gaming by a neck for second.
It was the fourth win from eight starts for Macho Music, a Florida-bred son of Maclean’s Music, his first in a graded stakes. Macho Music entered the Pat Day off an 11 1/4-length romp as the 2-5 favorite in a Florida-bred stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on March 30.
Castellano said the key to victory Saturday was the first quarter run in 22.43 seconds and the half-mile in 44.93. Castellano noted that in the Swale Stakes two starts back at Gulfstream Park, Macho Music ran a half-mile in 43.92 seconds when finishing second to Gate to Wire.
“Out of the gate I used him to get my spot, if somebody wanted to overdo it, it’s going to be really, really fast,” Castellano said. “That’s why the key to winning the race was the first quarter - be aggressive, dictate my pace, control the race. After that he was game.”
Macho Muisc opened up his advantage around the far turn and kept a clear margin between himself and Madaket Road and Gaming through the lane. Macho Music (97 Beyer Speed Figure) covered the mile in 1:35.65 in the slop and returned $29.86.
Rohan Crichton, the trainer and part owner of Macho Music, agreed that the early fractions were reasonable.
“He’s got a lot of speed, runs the turns really well and Javier I think was able to get away with an easy first quarter,” said Crichton, who owns the horse along with Mark Fletcher Taylor and Daniel Waters. “I’m overwhelmed, to say the least.”
Bob Baffert, trainer of Madaket Road and Gaming, said he thought the former was going to be on the lead.
After talking to jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., afterward, “he said he couldn’t make the lead,” Baffert said.
Baffert was relatively pleased with Gaming’s performance. He sat a joint second inside of Madaket Road, but couldn’t pass his stablemate while finishing 5 1/2 lengths clear of fourth-place finisher Gate to Wire.
“Finally, he’s coming back around, he ran a good race,” Baffert said. “It’s tough a [sloppy] track like this, you don’t know how they’re going to react.”
Following Gate to Wire in order, were Perfect Force, Smoken Wicked, Innovator, California Burrito and Built.
Crichton said the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Saratoga on June 7 could be Macho Music’s next start.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.