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Just barely in Control in Oak Tree Mile T N T Stud's homebred OUT OF CONTROL (Brz) (Vettori) appeared to be in control in midstretch of Sunday's $252,000 Oak Tree Mile S. (G2), as fan favorites Lava Man (Slew City Slew) and Surf Cat (Sir Cat) had dropped out of contention. Zann (Dynaformer) roared home late, however, to make things interesting and force a photo-finish, which showed Out of Control just hanging on beneath Michael Baze by a diminishing nose. The Bobby Frankel charge stopped the teletimer in 1:34 for the firm-turf mile at Santa Anita. When the gate sprang open, Get Funky (Straight Man) sped to the lead, but a rank Surf Cat was intent on dictating affairs. Quickly taking command at the rail, Surf Cat carved out fractions of :23 1/5, :47 1/5 and 1:10 4/5, hounded all the way by Get Funky. Lava Man tracked in third along the inside and was soon hemmed in by Out of Control, who cruised into an outside stalking position. Lava Man began to backpedal on the far turn, but Out of Control was just winding up to challenge. At the top of the stretch, Out of Control stormed past the fading pace factors and secured a safe margin before being given a severe fright by the rallying Zann. "My horse took off when I asked him," Baze said, "and when he saw that other horse (Zann) coming on his outside, he dug in and ran as hard as he could. This is a big relief. I've been sitting at home (due to a riding suspension) and watching the races on TV. I just want to ride so bad. This is awesome." The nearly 4-1 winner returned $9.80, $5 and $4.20, and Zann gave back $7.20 and $5.40 at 10-1 for his near-miss. Courtnall (Cherokee Run), by far the longest shot on the board at 40-1, finished energetically from dead last to grab third, just a length back of Zann, to pay $8. The $1 exacta was worth $27.90, and the 3-4-6 trifecta ($1) was good for $337.40. Get Funky retreated to fourth, followed by Surf Cat and Lava Man. "There was no energy level there at all (from Lava Man)," his regular rider Corey Nakatani said. "He's not up underneath me, and he's not going, not going forward. He's been having some issues, I believe. I don't know what they are, but hopefully, the warrior that he is, he'll get over them and get back to the old Lava Man that we all know." Out of Control has now earned $487,371 from his 11-5-3-1 line. Runner-up in the Grande Premio Presidente da Republica (Brz-G1) last August, his finale in his native land, the dark bay was given plenty of time to acclimate to the Northern Hemisphere. He didn't make his U.S. debut until January, finishing second in a downhill turf sprint at Santa Anita. After clearing his first two allowance conditions, Out of Control upset the venerable The Tin Man (Affirmed) in the American Invitational H. (G2) at Hollywood Park and was then runner-up to After Market (Storm Cat) in the Eddie Read H. (G1). The four-year-old colt was exiting a subpar sixth in the Del Mar Mile H. (G2). The Brazilian-bred is out of Heavenly Dancer (Fitzcarraldo), making him a half-brother to Brazilian Group 3 queen Notre Dame (Brz) (Royal Academy), who was second in the Paseana H. in January. Heavenly Dancer is herself a full sister to Argentinean Group 2 winner Silver Planet and a half-sister to Argentinean Group 1 winner Alphard (Just in Case). With Frankel in New York Sunday, it wasn't clear whether Out of Control would aim for the October 27 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1).
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