'TDN Rising Star' Mucho Gusto lived up to his name once again with a decisive score in a sloppy renewal of the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita Saturday. Favored at 3-5 over GIII Sham S. victor Gunmetal Gray, the chestnut came out running from the outside post in this five-horse affair, but so did Kid Cantina (Richard's Kid) and Magnificent McCool (Giant's Causeway). Those two took control with the chalk keeping a close eye on them from third through a first quarter in :23.57. Kid Cantina sharply plummeted backwards on the fence leaving Magnificent McCool on his own up front with Mucho Gusto closing in a bit in second as the half went up in :46.55. The Bob Baffert runner seized control from the pacesetter on the backstretch run and it was all over from there. Mucho Gusto stormed clear to win for fun and Gunmetal Gray rallied for second over Easy Shot. Kid Cantina was euthanized.
“He got to sit off the pace, which was good,” said Baffert. “They have to learn to do that, and I was really happy with Joe [Talamo]. He rode him with a lot of confidence today, like he was a good horse and [Talamo] was on his own. I didn't give him any instructions…He's a good horse. He's a fighter, too. If they'd have hooked him, he likes to fight.”
The Hall of Famer continued, “This is the time of the year when you want to start getting excited about something. I want to run him in spots where he's going to be very competitive, and we have those other horses, so it depends on what the other horses are doing. Right now, I'm going to nominate my horses everywhere and whoever's doing great that week runs in that race…Let the games begin.”
“Every race, he's getting better and better,” said Talamo. “He settled today like he's been doing this a hundred times. He galloped out real strong. I don't think distance is going to be any problem. At the three eighths [pole], I was pretty confident. He's a 3-year-old, but he feels like an older horse.”
Picked up for just $14,000 at Keeneland January, Mucho Gusto brought $95,000 in his next trip through the Keeneland ring that September. The colt RNA'd for $55,000 at the OBS March sale after breezing an eighth in :10 flat over the synthetic and was sent through the ring at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale two months later, where he summoned $625,000 from Michael Lund Petersen after working a quarter-mile over a sloppy dirt track in an eye-catching :21 1/5. He is currently the most expensive offspring of 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Mucho Macho Man to be sold at auction.
A good-looking debut winner going six panels at Los Alamitos Sept. 20, Mucho Gusto followed suit with a gritty score in Del Mar's GIII Bob Hope S. going one panel further Nov. 17. He was last seen finishing second behind a dominant performance from undefeated stablemate and fellow 'Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) in the GI Los Alamitos Futurity when trying two turns for the first time Dec. 8.
Pedigree Notes:
Mucho Gusto became the first graded stakes winner from the first crop of Mucho Macho Man with his victory in the Bob Hope and is still the Adena sire's sole black-type victor at this point. His dam Itsagiantcauseway did not produce a foal in 2017, but had a colt by Jack Milton last April and was bred back to Alpha. The late Giant's Causeway is also the broodmare sire of Horse of the Year Gun Runner, MGISW and young Ashford sire Verrazano (More Than Ready) and European MG1SW Hawkbill (Kitten's Joy). The winner also hails from the family of Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks and Valleys (Mt. Livermore) and MGSW Alternation (Distorted Humor).
Saturday, Santa Anita
ROBERT B. LEWIS S.-GIII, $147,351, Santa Anita, 2-2, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.81, sy.
1–MUCHO GUSTO, 122, c, 3, by Mucho Macho Man
1st Dam: Itsagiantcauseway, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Countervail, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Strike a Balance, by Green Dancer
'TDN Rising Star' ($14,000 Ylg '17 KEEJAN; $95,000 Ylg '17
KEESEP; $55,000 RNA 2yo '18 OBSMAR; $625,000 2yo '18
EASMAY). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Teneri Farm Inc. &
Bernardo Alvarez Calderon (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Joseph
Talamo. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $234,000.
Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Gunmetal Gray, 124, c, 3, Exchange Rate–Classofsixtythree,
by Include. ($85,000 RNA Ylg '17 KEESEP; $225,000 2yo '18
OBSMAR). O-Hollendorfer, LLC, Pearl Racing & West Point
Thoroughbreds; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Jerry Hollendorfer.
$30,000.
3–Easy Shot, 120, c, 3, Trappe Shot–Daddy's Dreamgirl, by Scat
Daddy. ($80,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Calumet Farm; B-Hinkle
Farms (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux. $18,000.
Margins: 4 3/4, HF, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.60, 1.70, 12.00.
Also Ran: Magnificent McCool, Kid Cantina. Scratched: Nolo Contesto. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
