Sharp Azteca (Freud) finished within a half-length of Grade I glory twice now, including the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last time, and finally earned that elusive top-level victory with a dominant score in the GI Cigar Mile H. at Aqueduct Saturday. Breaking sharply from the six-hole, the 8-5 chalk was quickly overtaken by State Dinner S. romper Seymourdini (Bernardini) and California invader Americanize (Concord Point) to his inside. Seymourdini led the Damascus S. winner by a half-length through a sharp first quarter in :22.78 and a half in :45.97 with the front-running Sharp Azteca settled nicely in a two-wide third beneath Javier Castellano. Ranging up outside the leaders turning for home, the dark bay was in a race of his own in the lane, charging home to a 5 1/4-length success. MGISW Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) came flying in the stretch to be second and Practical Joke (Into Mischief), who will now be retired to Coolmore's Ashford Stud, rallied late to be third.
“Everything with him is details,” winning trainer Jorge Navarro said. “He came out tired. We paid attention to every little thing. We wanted to do the right thing. And I know we were sitting on that Grade I, and you know what, I wasn't expecting this big of a performance. He ran his eyes out. What else can I ask?”
When asked if he would consider Sharp Azteca in the $16 million GI Pegasus World Cup next month at Gulfstream, Navarro said, “After this performance, why not? We are going to see how he comes out of this first.”
“I thought he could [rate] until yesterday,” Navarro said. “I watched two videos of him and he kept throwing his head up every time we tried to rate him. I mentioned it to Javier [Castellano] and I said, 'We are not going to get in your way. You do what you want to do.' The one thing I said is that once you make your move, just go. Do not try to look pretty.”
“I bought him. I picked him. It means a lot [to win a Grade I] ,” the trainer said of the $35,000 OBSAUG yearling turned $220,000 OBSAPR juvenile purchase.
“There was a lot of early speed with the horses in this race,” said winning rider Javier Castellano, who was riding Sharp Azteca for the first time Saturday. “I was really impressed by the way he did it. I just asked him to win the race back, I didn't push him all the way. We've known this is a special horse for a long time. You don't see too many horses do this; when they're going too fast in the Breeders' Cup, then they have a short rest and the way he performed today. A mile race against a good field of horses, I think he's very impressive.”
Chad Summers, trainer and part-owner of runner-up Mind Your Biscuits, said, “It shows he can go a mile. I have all the respect in the world for Sharp Azteca. Just following him all year long, I knew that was the horse to beat. I thought it was a two-horse race. It was; he got the jump on us and beat us today. We'll regroup from here for next year.”
A break-out winner of the GIII Pat Day Mile last term, Sharp Azteca closed out his sophomore season with a second to Mind Your Biscuits in the GI Malibu S. A decisive victor of the GII Gulfstream Park H. in February, he was a respectable third when shipping to Meydan for the G2 Godolphin Mile Mar. 25 and checked in second behind a dominant performance from Mor Spirit (Eskendereya) in the GI Met Mile June 10 at Belmont.
Romping by 7 1/2 lengths in the GIII Monmouth Cup at his trainer's home base July 30, the 4-year-old followed suit with a wire-to-wire victory in Belmont's GII Kelso H. Sept. 23. Sharp Azteca showed the way from the start in the GI Las Vegas Dirt Mile at Del Mar Nov. 3, but was overtaken late by “TDN Rising Star” Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) and forced to settle for second by just a half-length.
Pedigree Notes:
Sharp Azteca is the third North American Grade I winner, and fourth overall, for his New York-based sire Freud, who is a full-brother to MG1SW and top sire Giant's Causeway. The winner's unraced dam So Sharp, a $130,000 KEESEP yearling purchase in 2008 by Lane's End's Bill Farish, sold for just $2,500 at the 2011 Keeneland January sale. She was bred to Super Saver and was sent through that auction ring again in November, bringing $22,000 from Jay Goodwin on behalf of Cloyce C. Clark, Jr. She produced five foals for that breeder, including the 2-year-old colt Requisite (Redding Colliery) and a yearling colt by Alpha. So Sharp was sold again in 2016, summoning $230,000 from Hinkle Farms carrying a foal by Lea. The resulting foal was a colt born Mar. 13 of this year and she was bred back to Nyquist. So Sharp is a half-sister to GSW Mint Lane (Maria's Mon) and GISP Sister Girl Blues (Hold for Gold), who is the dam of GSW and 2015 GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line (Line of David).
CIGAR MILE H. PRESENTED BY NYRA BETS-GI, $750,000, AQU, 12-2, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:35.17, ft.
1–SHARP AZTECA, 125, c, 4, by Freud
1st Dam: So Sharp, by Saint Liam
2nd Dam: Sister Girl, by Conquistador Cielo
3rd Dam: Scipio, by Danzig
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($35,000 Ylg '14 OBSAUG; $220,000 2yo '15
OBSAPR). O-Ivan Rodriguez; B-Cloyce C. Clark (KY); T-Jorge
Navarro; J-Javier Castellano. $450,000. Lifetime
Record:MGSW, 16-8-5-1, $1,756,740. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”nick-de-meric-consigned-by-de-meric-sales”][bullet ad=”selectsales-shell”][bullet ad=”sequel-stallion-the-ny-breeders-farm”]2–Mind Your Biscuits, 122, c, 4, Posse–Jazzmane, by Toccet.
($47,000 Ylg '14 KEEJAN; $47,000 RNA Ylg '14 SARAUG;
$47,000 RNA 2yo '15 OBSAPR). O-Head of Plains LLC, J Stables
LLC, M.S., D. & C. Summers & M. E. Kisber; B-Jumping Jack
Racing LLC (NY); T-Chad Summers. $150,000.[bullet ad=”machmer-hall-pinhooked-by”][bullet ad=”selectsales-shell”][bullet ad=”bswbloodstock-lizcrow-privatepurchase”][bullet ad=”imagine”][bullet ad=”baccari-bloodstock-and-jumping-jack”][bullet ad=”sbmtrainingandsales-brokenandtrained”]3–Practical Joke, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Halo Humor, by
Distorted Humor. ($135,000 Ylg '15 KEEJAN; $240,000 Ylg '15
KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc. & William H. Lawrence;
-Whispering Oaks (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $75,000.[bullet ad=”gainesway-consigned-by”][bullet ad=”a-gaineswaygeorge-bolton-pinhook”][bullet ad=”nick-de-meric-de-meric-stables-graduate”][bullet ad=”vinery-sales-grad”]Margins: 5 1/4, 2 3/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 1.75, 7.30, 2.85.
Also Ran: Americanize, Tom's Ready, Just Call Kenny, Vulcan's Forge, Beasley, Seymourdini, Summer Revolution. 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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