Cape Blanco dethrones Gio Ponti in Man o' War

by Kellie Reilly

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Cape Blanco launched a successful Irish invasion in

Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Man o' War at Belmont Park, thwarting two-time

defending champion Gio Ponti's bid for an unprecedented three-peat. Given a

textbook stalking trip by Jamie Spencer, the high-class shipper put away

longtime leader Mission Approved in the stretch and was never threatened by the

mildly-closing Gio Ponti.

Cape Blanco was ending a dry spell both for himself and for his trainer, who

had not had much success when shipping to the United States for the past couple

of years. Last year's Group 1 Irish Derby and Group 1 Irish Champion hero had

finished off the board in his past four outings, but the Man o' War looked like

the right spot to spark a renaissance.

Gio Ponti, on the other hand, wasn't certain to line up after rains had hit

the New York area. Trainer Christophe Clement ultimately decided that the inner

turf was indeed "good" enough on the sunny Saturday, and let the even-money

favorite take his chance.

As expected, Mission Approved took up his front-running role and established

splits of :23 2/5, :50 1/5 and 1:15 2/5. Cape Blanco, the 3-1 second choice, was

well placed in second, while Boisterous was a rail-skimming third. Al Khali,

Bearpath and Gio Ponti rounded out the field in the early stages.

Cape Blanco ranged up alongside Mission Approved through one mile in 1:39

1/5, and the duo appeared set for a rousing battle. As Cape Blanco swung out

wide off the turn, and drifted out at the head of the lane, Mission Approved

regained a slim advantage while reaching 1 1/4 miles in 2:02 1/5.

Once Cape Blanco got in high gear, though, he surged to the lead and pulled

away in convincing fashion. Gio Ponti worked his way forward, but it was too

little, too late, and Cape Blanco was in command by 2 1/4 lengths at the wire.

After negotiating 1 3/8 miles in 2:14, Cape Blanco furnished mutuels of $8.10,

$4.10 and $2.80.

Boisterous reported home another length astern in third. Mission Approved

tired to fourth, and Al Khali and Bearpath didn't make an impression from off

the pace. Nownownow was scratched in favor of Saturday's Battlefield Stakes at

Monmouth, where he ran fifth.

Cape Blanco now sports a 13-7-1-0 record and $2,979,665 in earnings. The

chestnut was unbeaten from three starts as a juvenile in 2009, including the

Group 2 Futurity and Group 3 Tyros, and continued his streak in his sophomore

bow in the Group 2 Dante, defeating eventual Group 1 Derby and Group 1 Prix de

l'Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce (GB). Instead of heading to Epsom, Cape

Blanco was deployed to France for the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club, where he

flopped in 10th.

Rebounding with a half-length score in the Irish Derby, Cape Blanco was then

best of the rest behind the ultra-impressive Harbinger in the Group 1 King

George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He made abundant use of his tactical speed

to wire the Irish Champion by 5 1/2 lengths, crushing such smart older horses as

Rip Van Winkle (Ire) and Twice Over (GB), and ended his season with a 13th-place

effort in the Arc. Cape Blanco ranked as Ireland's highweight three-year-old in

both the 9 1/2-to-11 furlong and 11-to-14 furlong categories.

Earlier this year, Mrs. Fitry Hay purchased a significant interest in Cape

Blanco. Now racing for her in partnership with Coolmore principals Derrick

Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor, he reappeared in the March 26 Group

1 Dubai World Cup and was beaten a grand total of a length in fourth, with Gio

Ponti back in fifth, in a fine effort in his first try on a synthetic surface.

Cape Blanco struck out for the third time in France when fourth in a superb

renewal of the April 30 Group 1 Prix Ganay.

His next engagement, the June 14 Group 1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, was an

experiment. Attempting a straight mile against the likes of Canford Cliffs and

Goldikova (Ire), he faded badly to sixth. Cape Blanco was back at a more

suitable distance, and adding Lasix, for the Man o' War.

Bred by Jack Ronan and Des Vere Hunt Farm Co. in Ireland, Cape Blanco was

sold for $476,553 as a Goffs yearling. The Galileo (Ire) colt is out of the

winning Presidium mare Laurel Delight, making him a half-brother to multiple

Grade 2 victor and Grade 1-placed Mr O'Brien (Ire). Laurel Delight is herself a

half-sister to multiple Group 2 sprint star Paris House. With his fourth dam

being the noted matron Lighted Lamp, Cape Blanco hails from the same female line

as French classic winners Lawman and Latice (Ire).