GREAT HUNTER WINS THE ROBERT B. LEWIS STAKES
Great Hunter powers past foes in Robert B. Lewis Stakes
By Jeff Apel
Grade 1 winner Great Hunter powered past five foes to win with
an explosive turn move en route to a 1 ¼ length win in the $200,000
Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
The APTITUDE colt opened his
three-year-old campaign with an impressive victory after seizing
command approaching the stretch and drawing clear in the closing
strides of the 1 1/16 mile race. Positioned four wide at the start
by jockey Corey Nakatani, Great Hunter rallied from eighth in a
field of nine and gamely prevailed as the 9- to – 10 favourite.
‘He just ran a tremendous race,’ Nakatani said.’ The plan today
was to kick clear and gallop out strong. He did just that.’
Trainer Doug O’Neill gave credit to Nakatani after watching
Great Hunter move up four wide approaching the stretch and turn
back a late bid from runner-up Sam P. Dropping more than five
lengths off the pace and positioned in eighth through half a mile,
Great Hunter rallied on the outside of foes, opened a 1 ½ length
lead in early stretch, and won in 1:42.89 on a fast track.
Saint Paul finished third, 2 ¼ lengths behind Sam P.
J. Paul Reddam’s Great Hunter closed out his juvenile campaign
by finishing third, 12 ¼ lengths behind Street Sense, in the
Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on November 4 at
Churchill Downs. Great Hunter earned his first career stakes win in
the 2006 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G1).
‘You never know what to expect from a horse that’s had such a
good campaign as a two-year-old, as far as getting the next year
started,’ O’Neill said. ‘But it couldn’t have worked out better
than it did.’
Great Hunter earned his third win in eight starts in two seasons
and increased his earnings to $750,000. Bred in Pennsylvania, the
colt is out of Zenith, by Roy.
Date:
5 March 2007