Sent off the prohibitive chalk in Sunday's GIII La Jolla H. at Del Mar, River Boyne was given a tactically flawless ride by Flavien Prat and ran out a comfortable winner of the middle leg of the 3-year-old series that ends with the GII Del Mar Derby in four weeks' time. Settled in the second half of the field as Calexman galloped them along at a leisurely tempo, River Boyne was right in behind the leading group, needing only a bit of clear sailing as the field neared the stretch. Pulled out three wide into the lane, the dark bay eased alongside and past the pacesetter and on to a comfortable victory as Arawak closed well to touch Calexman out of second.
Second on the Newcastle synthetic last October in his best of three overseas tries for Gordon Elliott, River Boyne was acquired for 70,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn horses in training sale days later and resurfaced in Arcardia Nov. 24 to be second to eventual MGSW Blended Citizen (Proud Citizen). He broke through by an emphatic five lengths on Santa Anita's big day-after-Christmas card, and immediately added an optional claiming win there Feb. 8 and the Pasadena S. Mar. 17. Fifth in the GII American Turf S. on yielding Churchill turf May 5, the dark bay was last seen annexing the nine-panel Rainbow S. back at Santa Anita June 16.
“I really didn't know [whether he would be close to the pace or not]; I just leave that up to Flavien [Prat],” said trainer Jeff Mullins, who also saddled $1-million Tatters to Riches (Union Rags) to a comeback win for the same owners in a Saturday evening allowance. “He knows how much horse he's got underneath him and it has worked out pretty much every time. He got in a little tight back there and I was a little worried it might take away from his kick, but obviously it didn't. The [Del Mar Derby] is probably the next step.”
River Boyne is the fifth graded/group winner for Dandy Man, best known as the sire of the talented Hong Kong G1SW sprinter Peniaphobia (Ire).
Sunday, Del Mar
LA JOLLA H.-GIII, $150,345, Del Mar, 8-5, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:40.93, fm.
1–RIVER BOYNE (IRE), 122, c, 3, by Dandy Man (Ire)
1st Dam: Clytha (GB), by Mark of Esteem (Ire)
2nd Dam: India Atlanta, by Ahonoora (GB)
3rd Dam: Place of Honour (Ire), by Be My Guest
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. (€20,000 Wlg '15 GOFNOV;
€65,000 Ylg '16 GOFSPT; 70,000gns 2yo '17 TATAHI). O-Red
Baron's Barn LLC & Rancho Temescal LLC; B-Limestone & Tara
Studs (IRE); T-Jeff Mullins; J-Flavien Prat. $90,000. Lifetime
Record: 10-5-2-0, $361,718. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. [bullet ad=”itm-g2-g3″]2–Arawak, 118, c, 3, Uncle Mo–Spicy Teddy, by Spanish Steps.
($200,000 Ylg '16 FTKJUL). O-Calara Farms, C T R Stables LLC,
R3 Racing LLC & Steven Keh; B-Parrish Hill Farm & Ashford
Stud (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $30,000. [bullet ad=”summerfieldsales-sold”][bullet ad=”irt-shell”]3–Calexman, 118, c, 3, Midshipman–Mattie Cakes, by
Meadowlake. ($7,000 Ylg '16 KEEJAN; $36,000 Ylg '16 FTKOCT;
$240,000 2yo '17 OBSAPR). O-Holly & David Wilson; B-Sue
Sanders (KY); T-Vladimir Cerin. $18,000. [bullet ad=”pickview-grad”][bullet ad=”legacy-calexman”]Margins: 1 1/4, HF, NK. Odds: 0.50, 10.80, 5.10.
Also Ran: Inscom, Restrainedvengence, Move Over (GB). Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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