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Norvsky catches Jeranimo in San Gabriel
The San Gabriel lacked a dedicated front runner. Jeranimo, who rallied from midpack to take the last running of the San Gabriel, and the Grade 2 Citation Handicap most recently on November 26, decided to get aggressive early with Martin Garcia. After pressing Sandor through an opening quarter in :23 3/5, Jeranimo took sole command through fractions of :48 2/5 and 1:11 3/5. The Usual Q. T., returning from a seven-month layoff, hounded him every step of the way in second. Norvsky bided his time a couple of lengths back in the chasing pack, and on the far turn, advanced into third. Jeranimo began to put The Usual Q. T. away and inched clear down the lane, but Norvsky was soon on the attack. Hitting his best stride in the final furlong, Norvsky easily reeled in the odds-on favorite to complete 1 1/8 firm-turf miles in 1:47. The winner returned $8.20, $2.80 and $2.40 as the 3-1 second choice in the short field of six. "We were going really slow in the beginning," winning rider Rafael Bejarano said, "and I was wondering if the pace would stay that way. So I just tried to get in close and not stay too far back. At the half-mile pole I was trying to improve my position, and when I got to the stretch my horse showed me a big kick. I knew he was going to win the race then. "My horse is still learning, and I think the perfect distance for him is either a mile and one sixteenth, or a mile and an eighth. He's always doing very good at both distances." "It turned out (the race set up well)," Warren said, "the way they were ding-donging it, those two (Jeranimo and The Usual Q.T.) up there in front, even though they were going only in 48 and change. But it's all a matter if you're ding-donging it head and head, how fast you go doesn't matter. "When you're racing, you're racing and it's taking something out of you. That's why I like when I run Acclamation. I prefer him on the lead two or three lengths, because you're not going head and head. They don't really know they're racing. Like I said, I'm surprised that this horse could beat horses like Jeranimo and The Usual Q.T. It's impressive." Mike Pender, Jeranimo's trainer, felt that the pace scenario worked against him. "This was the first time he was even on the lead by himself," Pender said. "Going in we knew he might get a little confused by it and he did. He didn't know what he was doing out there. He usually has a target. He runs better with a target, but you've got to take the race as it shapes up. There was no speed in there and he inherited the lead." Jeranimo crossed the wire 2 3/4 lengths ahead of a tiring The Usual Q. T., who thus replicated his third-place finish from the previous San Gabriel. Ashtar was just another neck away in fourth, followed by Imponente Purse and Sandor. Norvsky's first graded coup improved his record to 18-6-7-3, $487,844. Successful in last year's California Cup Classic and California Dreamin' Handicap, the bay gelding also placed in the 2011 Harry F. Brubaker, Ralph M. Hinds and Golden State Cup as well as the 2010 Santana Mile. Norvsky was coming off a fifth in the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup on November 19, where the 1 1/2 miles were a bridge too far. A very late foal with a June 1 birthday, Norvsky was bred by the Johnstons' Old English Rancho in California. The six-year-old son of Vronsky is out of the winning Flying Paster mare Fimbrelith. This is the family of Grade 3 scorers Individual Style and Individualist and multiple stakes hero Macarthur Park, who landed the Norfolk and Del Mar Futurity just prior to the graded era.
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