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Last Gunfighter catches Eighttofast in Pimlico Special John D. Gunther's homebred Last Gunfighter was hammered into 3-5 favoritism in Friday's Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special, with the betting public confidently expecting that he would remain perfect in six starts since joining Chad Brown. The odds-on favorite duly obliged by 4 1/4 lengths, despite the best efforts of a loose-on-the-lead Eighttofasttocatch to steal the race through pedestrian fractions. Eighttofasttocatch, wire-to-wire hero of the April 20 Henry S. Clark at Pimlico, didn't have to go fast to secure a comfortable lead through an opening quarter in :24 2/5. Last Gunfighter was well placed in a stalking spot by Javier Castellano, covering up fellow tracker Brimstone Island to his inside. The front runner slowed the tempo down to a crawl through a half in :49 4/5, and he still enjoyed a three-length margin at the six-furlong mark in 1:14. Rounding the far turn and into the stretch, Eighttofasttocatch had plenty up his sleeve, and his chances of pulling the upset started to rise when Last Gunfighter was under a drive in pursuit. But after the pacesetter got the mile in 1:39 1/5, his doubtful stamina came into play. Eighttofasttocatch's stride shortened as he visibly tired in the closing stages of the 1 3/16-mile test. At the same time, Last Gunfighter was beginning to roll for Javier Castellano. Reeling in Eighttofasttocatch to thwart the upset, the First Samurai colt drew off to win with authority in a final time of 1:58 2/5 on the fast main track. "I had a beautiful trip," Castellano said. "That's where I wanted to be, and it worked out great. It was a small field, and I didn't see much speed. "The only horse that had the speed was the front runner, and he was my target all the way. It worked out perfect. At the three-eighths pole I had to use him a little bit to get him into the race, and he got into it really quick. I really liked the way he did it. Turning for home, he's a game horse and he passed the other horse and he took off." "The horse on the lead is a good horse," Brown said in tribute to runner-up Eighttofasttocatch. "With the softer fractions at the quarter-pole, it looked like he was getting away from us a little bit. But I had a lot of confidence that Javier had the pace judged right. "This horse, he's done that before in his races. He's a bit of a grinder, where it kind of looks like he loses his placing and then here he comes again. It was kind of typical of the way this horse runs. Once he had him collared -- any horse that puts up that many Ws in a row, you know they want to get their nose on the line." Tim Keefe, trainer of Eighttofasttocatch, complimented jockey Forest Boyce for his well-judged ride. "He was just second best," Keefe said. "Going into it, you look at Chad Brown's horse and he was getting better with every start. Forest did every right, slowed the pace, slower than I could have hoped for. I was just hoping it was going to be too much for Chad's horse to overcome." Another 9 1/4 lengths back in third came the eight-year-old Richard's Kid, a multiple Grade 1 winner in his heyday. "He's such a cool horse," trainer Doug O'Neill said of Richard's Kid. "There was no pace but he kept plugging away. He showed up today. We're going to go back home and get ready for Del Mar (a title defense in the Cougar II on July 26). He ran third in the Pimlico Special and that is a great honor and a great privilege." Indian Dance, Concealed Identity and Brimstone Island rounded out the order of finish. Last Gunfighter, who paid $3.20, $2.10 and $2.10, has now bankrolled $475,405 from an overall mark of 10-6-2-2. Unraced at two, the dark bay placed in all four starts for Helen Pitts. He switched to Brown for the second half of his three-year-old campaign and wasted no time in breaking his maiden at Belmont Park in October. Last Gunfighter has made uninterrupted progress at Aqueduct ever since. Narrowly clearing his entry-level allowance condition in November, he romped by 4 3/4 lengths in his stakes debut in the December 9 Raymond Earl, and next landed the January 19 Evening Attire. He extended his winning streak to five in the March 23 Excelsior, his first Grade 3 attempt, last time out. The Kentucky-bred is out of the winning Sir Cat mare Saratoga Cat, who is a half-sister to stakes scorers Saratoga Boot and Sexy Boots. Another family member, Costly Shoes, captured the 1988 Black-Eyed Susan. Further back, Last Gunfighter descends from the female line of champion and noted sire Dehere. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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