Rated R Superstar ($53.80) edges past Mucho in Fifth Season
Rated R Superstar launched his 9-year-old season in style Saturday, when he ran down pacesetter Mucho to win the $150,000 Fifth Season at Oaklawn Park.
Rated R Superstar won by a neck, while it was another half-length back in third to Thomas Shelby.
The Fifth Season was a one-mile race for 4-year-olds and up. It was held on an overcast afternoon with temperatures in the low 30s. The race marked the first start since the Preakness for Concert Tour, the winner of last year's Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn who finished ninth Saturday.
Rated R Superstar ($53.80) was content to let the pace go in the early stages of the Fifth Season, as Mucho jumped out to the lead and put up fractions of 23.33 seconds for the opening quarter and 46.91 for the half-mile, with Thomas Shelby and Concert Tour in close pursuit.
Rated R Superstar advanced down the backside and moved into contention on the final turn, as Mucho continued to lead through six furlongs in 1:11.65. Jockey David Cabrera angled Rated R Superstar off the rail into the stretch, and the veteran runner accelerated, catching Mucho and Thomas Shelby nearing the wire. The winner covered the distance on a fast track in 1:37.16.
“David gave him a super ride, stayed close enough to the pace,” winning owner Danny Caldwell said in a post-race interview broadcast by Oaklawn.
Caldwell said he had considered an allowance for Rated R Superstar, but trainer Federico Villafranco said the horse was doing so well that the decision was made to enter the Fifth Season.
Rated R Superstar is a son of Kodiak Kowboy. He has now won 10 of 57 starts for earnings of $1,271,014.