El Kabeir forgoes front-running ways, rallies to easy Gotham score

El Kabeir forgoes front-running ways, rallies to easy

Gotham score

He won under wraps late, stopping the teletimer in 1:45 2/5, and paid $4.60

to win as the 6-5 favorite.

Terranova wasn't expecting such a dramatic switch in run style.

"When C.C. and I had talked about it before the race, we

said, 'We have a fast horse here, the track is playing quick, let's not get

cute. If he breaks clean, go,'" the trainer explained. "We thought we'd be on

the lead. When he broke like that I thought, wow, they must be going pretty

quick. I saw the half, and I was a little more comfortable, but he was still

pretty far back and was taking a lot of mud.

"And the track had not been playing that way at all today; I had not seen any

deep closers do anything. With this level of horses, sometimes you can throw out

biases. He overcame a lot today; it was a big jump forward. He got everything

thrown at him today and he still managed to overcome it all. It was very

impressive."

"He broke good," Lopez added. "But those horses broke better and showed more

gas, so then he got quickly shuffled back going into the turn. I just tried not

to panic; I was riding the best horse in the race.

"He was much easier behind horses to throttle the speed back and when I

called on him going to the half-mile pole I was able to sneak through on the

fence and angle him out going to the three-eighths pole. From there, when he

changed leads turning for home, he just exploded. So I'm not worried about the

distance any more."

Tiz Shea D (Tiznow), who was making his first start for Bill Mott after a

four-length debut score at Parx on February 7, closed up the rail to edge Classy

Class (Discreetly Mine) by a head for second.

El Kabeir broke his maiden by 10 lengths the second time out at Saratoga in

late August and finished fourth when making his stakes bow in the Champagne (G1)

at Belmont Park. After a second in the Nashua (G2) in early November, he

concluded his juvenile season with a wire-to-wire triumph in the Kentucky Jockey

Club (G2) at Churchill Downs.

His sophomore season got off to good start as El Kabeir raced up close from the start

of the January 3 Jerome (G3) at Aqueduct before powering his way to a 4 3/4-length

decision. He entered the Gotham off a runner-up finish in the February 7

Withers (G3).

"I think he was much better today than he was in the Jerome," Lopes said. "In

the Withers, I was still just trying to find out more about what he's about. I

probably had to move a little bit earlier because I didn't want Classy Class to

beat us both so maybe that took him a little out of his element, but today he

showed everything we've been trying to teach him...John (Terranova) has taught

him in the mornings to gather that dirt in his face and he was just much better

to ride today than he's been the last two times out."

El Kabeir is expected to remain in New York for the TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial (G1) on

April 4.

"He's done so well here, we'd like to stay and run in the Wood," Terranova

said. "I think he thrives off the races, and training. The more you throw at

him; the stronger he gets."

Bred in Florida by Rustlewood Farm, El Kabeir was a $250,000 OBS August

yearling purchase. He was produced by the Unbridled's Song mare Great Venue, and

his second dam was the prolific Ohio-bred producer Rose Colored Lady, whose

offspring include multiple Grade 2 winner Too Much Bling.

El Kabeir has now earned $678,892 from a 8-4-2-1 scorecard.

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