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Donn belongs to Spring at Last

Spring at Last paid for his Dubai ticket with the Donn victory (Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com) J. Paul Reddam and WinStar Farm's SPRING AT LAST (Silver Deputy) rallied strongly off the far turn to a clear lead and gamely held late for a half-length victory in Saturday's $500,000 Donn H. (G1). Making his second start back off a lengthy layoff, the 2007 Godolphin Mile (UAE-G2) winner garnered his first U.S. stakes win while running his current winning streak to three. The Doug O'Neill-trained horse completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 1/5 over the fast Gulfstream Park track. Cigar Mile H. (G1) victor and 4-5 favorite Daaher (Awesome Again) set a contested pace in :22 4/5, :46 1/5 and 1:09 3/5 before faltering on the far turn, with Spring at Last closely stalking in third along the rail most of the way. Kiss the Kid (Lemon Drop Kid), who chased the favorite in second during the early stages, grabbed a short lead between calls as jockey Eibar Coa guided Spring at Last to the outside on the far turn, and the eventual winner had all the momentum entering the stretch, quickly opening a clear advantage and getting the mile in 1:34 4/5. The fast-closing A. P. Arrow (A.P. Indy) briefly threatened in deep stretch, but Spring at Last determinedly withstood the runner-up. "We were so excited because he had been training really, really well," said O'Neill via phone from California. "We all needed to see (that performance) before he stamped himself a classic distance horse."

Sent off the 6-1 third choice in a field of eight, Spring at Last paid $14, $5.40 and $4.80 while keying the $37.60 exacta ($1) with 4-1 second choice A. P. Arrow, who gave back $4.40 and $3.80. It was 2 1/2 lengths back to the 46-1 Kiss the Kid, who desperately held 2006 Donn winner Brass Hat (Prized) off by a nose for third and returned $13. The trifecta ($1) yielded $598.60, and the 2-5-7-8 superfecta ($1) totaled $3,350.20.

Fairbanks (Giant's Causeway), Einstein (Brz) (Spend a Buck), Daaher and Dr Googles Boogles (Richter Scale) rounded out the order of finish. Wood Be Willing (Pulpit) was withdrawn.

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar, Spring at Last pushed his earnings past the $1 million mark ($1,137,650) while improving his mark to 12-5-2-2. The five-year-old brought a winning bid of $675,000 at the 2006 Keeneland November sales ring. He's the fourth registered foal out of the Dynaformer mare Winter's Gone, making him a half to the Grade 1-winning filly Sharp Lisa (Dixieland Band) and the Grade 2-winning filly Sharp Susan (Touch Gold). The dark bay horse also has a yearling half-brother by Storm Cat.

Spring at Last finished second in the Malibu S. (G1) and Strub S. (G2) last winter before breaking through in the Godolphin Mile in late March. He returned off a nine-month hiatus at Santa Anita in late December, capturing a grassy allowance/optional claiming event in impressive fashion.

A return trip to Dubai is planned, and Spring at Last established himself as a Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) contender with Saturday's performance.

"We don't know which race (Mile or World Cup) in Dubai we want right now," O'Neill said.

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