Azteca sharp in Kelso Handicap
Sharp Azteca stamped himself as a legitimate threat to win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with a 4-length romp in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap.
Breaking from gate 5, Sharp Azteca and jockey Paco Lopez wasted no time in getting to the lead. Bird Song and Julien Leparoux went right with them and glued themselves to the heavy favorite. Ross (IRE) took up the third position followed by Divining Rod, Tommy Macho, and late-running Tom’s Ready.
Moving together, Sharp Azteca and Bird Song put up a reasonable :23.50 first quarter before quickening in the second quarter, putting up the half in :46.48. While those two continued to run one-two, Divining Rod moved up into third.
Turning for home, Sharp Azteca shrugged off his second shadow in Bird Song and kicked for home. After pressuring Sharp Azteca throughout, Bird Song had nothing left for the stretch and faded out of contention. Divining Rod easily passed that foe to take over second, while Tom’s Ready found his best stride late.
There was no doubt who the winner would be, however, as Sharp Azteca cruised under the wire well in front in a final time of 1:34.12. Divining Rod was the best of the rest, and Tom’s Ready got up for third. Tommy Macho, Ross (IRE), and Bird Song completed the order of finish.
As the 1-2 favorite, Sharp Azteca paid $3.00, $2.30, and $2.10. Four-to-one second choice Divining Rod returned $3.50 and $2.50 to place, and third choice Tom’s Ready returned $2.70 to show as the third betting choice.
After being at the center of controversy for the past week or so, winning trainer Jorge Navarro finally had something to brighten his day. “With everything going on in the last two weeks, what else can I ask? He puts a smile on your face,” Navarro stated.
"It was a nice race. He's a nice horse,” said winning jockey Paco Lopez. “He got the leap out front and I let him go [to the lead]. He was very comfortable. I waited as long as I wanted and when I asked him, he ran very good. He's a very good horse. Anybody could ride that horse.”
By Freud and out of the Saint Liam mare So Sharp, Sharp Azteca is a 4-year old colt owned by Ivan Rodriguez and bred by Cloyce C. Clark, Jr. Other wins for the year include the G2 Gulfstream Park Handicap and the G3 Monmouth Cup. The colt’s share of the $300,000 Kelso purse put him over the million dollar mark.
When asked about the possibility of Sharp Azteca shipping to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Navarro replied, "We're going to see how he comes out first, step by step, and then hopefully we'll get there."