Bourbon Bay just shades Slim in San Luis Rey

Approaching the final turn, Slim Shadey launched a bold move and drew

alongside Hog's Hollow and Utopian. The two leaders responded, and the tempo

suddenly quickened through 1 1/4 miles in 2:01 3/5. The trio raced heads apart

turning for home, opening up on Porfido, who couldn't keep up, and even Bourbon

Bay, who briefly found himself losing ground at the crucial juncture.

"I don't know what he (Rosario) was doing so far back," Drysdale said, adding

that he told the rider "you should be sitting second or third.

"I thought he waited too long, although it's very difficult to judge this

course, how fast it is, when it starts raining. It's very difficult. He likes

this course, but that last race (fourth in the San Marcos) was a bit screwed

up."

Slim Shadey got the best of Hog's Hollow and Utopian in midstretch, but by

then, Bourbon Bay was exploding into the picture. Although Slim Shadey appeared

to have gotten a decisive jump on the favorite, he could not quite capitalize

and stalled a bit in the final furlong. Bourbon Bay, on the other hand, was

finishing like the proverbial freight train. Cutting him down by a head at the

wire, Bourbon Bay stopped the teletimer in 2:25 3/5 on the firm turf.

"This is a really good horse," Rosario said. "He has a nice turn of foot. He

tries really hard at this distance. My horse felt good on the track. I don't

know how the others handled the rain, but everything worked out perfect for my

horse."

Bourbon Bay, who repaid his loyalists with $4.40, $2.60 and $2.20, improved

his mark to 25-8-5-4, $878,536. The son of Sligo Bay was purchased privately

following his runner-up effort in the 2008 Cradle Stakes as a juvenile. Third in

the Grade 3 Generous and fourth in the Grade 3 Sham (the only previous time he'd

had Rosario aboard), the bay gelding didn't flourish until he had the

opportunity to go long on the turf at four. During that 2010 campaign, Bourbon

Bay scored an historic sweep of Santa Anita's series for turf marathoners -- the

Grade 2 San Luis Obispo, San Luis Rey and Grade 2 San Juan Capistrano. He raced

only once more that season, finishing a creditable third in the Grade 1 Clement

L. Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship.

After winning the Grade 2 San Marcos in his 2011 debut, Bourbon Bay lost a

squeaker to archrival Champ Pegasus in the San Luis Obispo. He did not attempt a

title defense in the San Luis Rey, opting instead for a crack at the Group 1

Dubai Sheema Classic, where he wound up 11th. His highlights for the balance of

2011 included a victory in the Grade 3 Cougar II on Del Mar's Polytrack and

placings in the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Memorial, Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap

and the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup.

Bred by Adena Springs in Kentucky, Bourbon Bay brought just $1,700 as a

Keeneland September yearling. The six-year-old is out of the winning

Conquistador Cielo mare Coral Necklace, making him a half-brother to Canadian

champion filly Ginger Brew and stakes scorer Booyah. This is the family of Grade

2 hero and Belmont Stakes near-misser Vision and Verse; stakes victress

Distorted Legacy, runner-up in last year's Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational; and

sires Hatchet Man and Stop the Music.

"We'll bring him back in the San Juan Capistrano," Drysdale said of the about

1 3/4-mile turf test on Santa Anita's closing day, April 22.