Midshipman sails to Juvenile honors

Midshipman emulated his sire when taking the Juvenile (Charles Pravata/Horsephotos.com)

Following in the hoofsteps of his sire, Unbridled's Song, Darley Stable's

MIDSHIPMAN culminated his two-year-old campaign with a victory in the

Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita on Saturday. Trained by Bob

Baffert and ridden by Garrett Gomez, the chestnut colt seized control down the

backstretch and dug in gamely down the lane to prove best by 1 1/4 lengths in

the $1,951,080 fixture.

The narrow 7-2 second choice, Midshipman brought back $9.20, $4.40 and $3.20

while keying $1 exotics of $19.70 (exacta), $72.20 (trifecta) and $736.70

(11-4-8-3 superfecta).

Typically a horse who likes to rate in midpack, Midshipman was surprisingly

on the bridle from the start, tracking a close second while 7-2 favorite Square

Eddie (Smart Strike) reeled off an opening quarter in :23 2/5. Midshipman

assumed the lead by a half-length after a half-mile in :47, and was up by the

same margin after six furlongs in 1:10 3/5 before going on to finish 1 1/16 miles on Pro-Ride

in 1:40 4/5. Street Hero (Street Cry [Ire]), the

co-fourth choice at 6-1, tracked in third most of the way, opened up a

half-length late on Square Eddie in the race for second, but yielded that

position to the favorite in the final yards while holding third by a half-length

over Terrain (Sky Mesa).

Square Eddie returned $5 and $3.80 while Street Hero brought back $4.40.

Terrain was followed by Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker), West Side Bernie

(Bernstein), Gallant Son (Malabar Gold), Silent Valor (Lion Heart), Azul Leon

(Lion Heart), Munnings (Speightstown), Bushranger (Ire) (Danetime) and Mine That

Bird (Birdstone). Elusive Bluff (Elusive Quality) was scratched earlier in the

week.

Midshipman gave Gomez one of his three BC wins on Saturday (Charles Pravata/Horsephotos.com)

"The track is a little different than yesterday," Baffert said when asked

whether he expected Midshipman to be on the lead. "The speed was difficult to

hold. It was a little different today, I've been watching it. But he's a fast

horse."

Midshipman made a winning debut over Polytrack at Del Mar August 17 going 5

1/2 furlongs, then proved best by a nose in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity

(G1) 17 days later. He made his two-turn debut in the September 28 Norfolk S.

(G1), but failed to catch Street Hero when finishing second, three parts of a

length in back of the winner.

Days prior to the Del Mar Futurity, Darley Stable acquired Midshipman from

Robert McNair's Stonerside Stable, along with most of the other assets from

McNair's Thoroughbred operation. Midshipman, whose sire won the Juvenile in 1995

at Belmont Park in his third career start, now goes off to prepare for next

year's classics with a 4-3-1-0 mark and earnings of of $1,380,200.