Gitano Hernando posts Goodwood shocker

Gitano Hernando (pink) squeezed through for the Goodwood win (Benoit Photos) Team Valor International and Gary Barber's GITANO HERNANDO (GB) (Hernando [Fr]) was a relative unknown entering Saturday's $305,000 Goodwood S. (G1) at Oak Tree, winning a conditions race over the synthetic track at Wolverhampton, England, in his previous start, but the three-year-old colt established himself as a Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) contender with an 18-1 upset in his U.S. debut. With European jockey Kieren Fallon in the saddle, the chestnut outfinished multiple Grade 1 winner Colonel John (Tiznow) by a neck for his first stakes victory. Trained by Marco Botti, the surprising winner was a bit headstrong during the early stages, settling in a close fourth as Tres Borrachos (Ecton Park) established an unhurried opening quarter-mile in :23 3/5 on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride. Gitano Hernando continued to stalk as the pacesetter rattled off the next splits in :48 2/5 and 1:12 3/5, and he found a seam between rivals at the top of the stretch and surged toward the front. Parading (Pulpit), who tracked in second during the early stages, offered his bid on the far turn and turned for home with the lead, passing the mile mark in 1:36 2/5 with a one-length advantage, but he had little left for the final furlong as Gitano Hernando and Colonel John went past and dueled to the wire. The runner-up had every chance in deep stretch before coming up a little short. Pacific Classic (G1) winner Richard's Kid (Lemon Drop Kid) momentarily loomed as a serious threat on the far outside, but he lacked the necessary rally and checked in another three-quarters of a length back in third.

Gitano Hernando completed the 1 1/8-mile test in 1:48 1/5.

"He broke the track record in his last start on Polytrack and he's been

training great," Fallon said. "I know this horse wants to go further, so I

wanted to be closer today and for him to be handy. He's a tough horse and he

needed to be today. Around the (far) turn, my horse was full of run and I was

worried about the horse inside of us, because I could see he was looking for

room. I was afraid maybe we were going to be going for the same gap and that can

sometimes be dangerous."

The winner paid $38, $14.40 and $9.40 as the eighth choice in the 10-horse

field,

and Colonel John, the 5-2 favorite, returned $4.40 and $3.20. Richard's Kid was

good for $4.40 at nearly 7-1. The $1 exotic payouts were $99.90 (exacta),

$557.50 (trifecta) and $2,885.50 for the 8-4-3-7 superfecta with near 9-2 third

choice Parading in fourth. Chocolate Candy (Candy Ride [Arg]) came next under

the wire and was followed by Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mine That Bird

(Birdstone), who never really got untracked from the back of the field; Monzante

(Maria's Mon); Informed (Tiznow); Tres Borrachos and Tiago (Pleasant Tap).

"(Mine That Bird) had a perfect trip, but he got to struggling a little,"

jockey Calvin Borel said. "When I asked him to go get them, he was struggling

over the track a little bit. Maybe a little bit firmer ground where I can just

let him break and pick him up easy -- instead of this quick -- will be better

for him. I don't know if that will work. But I do know one thing. He's a lot

better horse on the dirt. When you ask him here, he goes to struggling instead

of just running. I don't know. We'll have to work on that a little bit and see

what happens. But I think he'll be all right."

"I didn't talk to Calvin but he knows the race," trainer Chip Woolley said.

"They weren't setting any big fractions and maybe it might have been a little

short for us. He finally kicked in and was really closing but it was a little

later than we expected. Calvin rode the horse just like I wanted, I couldn't ask

for much more. To be honest, I'm kind of disappointed. The horse shows up every

time and runs the best he can run.

"The 10 weeks (since his last race) probably wasn't doing us any favors; it's

a long time off. We'll see how things go. We've got four weeks until the

Breeders' Cup. I told everybody that a mile and an eighth worried me with these

Grade 1 kind of horses. It's a little shorter and if we had an eighth of a mile

he would have closed a lot more ground. That's his deal."

Asked if this dims his enthusiasm for the Breeders' Cup run, Woolley was

categorical.

"Not at all. Like I said if we could have went another eighth of a mile today

it would have been a different story," the trainer summed up.

Bred in Great Britain by Newsells Park Stud Ltd., Gitano Hernando sold for

$53,976 as a Deauville August yearling. He is out

of Gino's Spirits (GB) (Perugino), who captured the 2000 edition of the Noble

Damsel H. (G3) and placed in the 2001 running of the Distaff Turf Mile (G3) and

Cardinal H. (G3). Earlier, in the English phase of her career, she won the John

Musker S. and placed in the Sun Chariot S. (Eng-G2). Gitano Hernando's third dam

is One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1)

winner Mrs McArdy (GB) (Tribal Chief), the dam of Irish highweight and sire Citidancer

(Ire) (Lomond). This is also the family of multiple Japanese champion Admire Cozzene (Cozzene).

Gitano Hernando has now won four of his last five starts and earned $219,893

from an overall mark of 7-4-2-0. Second by a head in

the about 1 5/16-mile Dee S. (Eng-G3) at Chester in May, he had been targeting the

Belmont S. (G1), but met with a setback and did not reappear until September 17,

when he landed the aforementioned conditions race in track-record time.

Gitano Hernando

is now guaranteed a starting spot in the Classic field, but his connections will

have to pay the supplemental fee.

"He will stay here," Botti said. "The horse is not going back to England.

Whether we go the Breeders' Cup, we don't know yet."