City of Light stretches out to win Oaklawn Handicap
City of Light picked up his third straight stakes
victory Saturday in the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap. This time, the recent winner of the
Grade 1 Malibu Stakes and Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes -- both at seven furlongs -- successfully
stretched out beyond sprint distances in his first try.
Winning trainer Michael McCarthy is already thinking of bigger things.
“We’ll enjoy this certainly for today, but two months from now we've got the Met Mile that’s been in the back of our minds,” he said. “That might be the next logical step. Obviously, the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year is our main goal.”
The Oaklawn Handicap began with last year’s winner Inside Straight
refusing to break, giving Untrapped a loose lead. City of Light was further
back than normal in his first start outside of Southern California, while the
other West Coast invader, Accelerate, sat in third.
Untrapped set opening fractions of :22.97 and :46.63 before the California horses made their move. Accelerate went three wide around the turn for home with City of Light to his outside. Although head-to-head for a moment, City of Light and jockey Drayden Van Dyke pulled ahead to win by a neck. Accelerate, fresh off his first Grade 1 win in the Santa Anita Handicap, fought back but had to settle for second. The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.26.
“He broke sharp and put
me in a good spot,” Van Dyke said of the winner. “Down the backside he was completely
loaded and had a lot of horse the entire way. Just had to wait for the home
stretch to let him loose and he did the rest himself. He’s a talented horse and
glad I could sit on him.”
Untrapped was 10 lengths back in third and Sonneteer was fourth. Lookin
At Lee, Malibu Max, Hawaakom, Colonelsdarktemper, Blueridge Traveler, Hedge
Fund and Inside Straight, who was ruled a starter after a stewards’ inquiry, completed
the order of finish.
“I didn’t think the distance would be a problem,” McCarthy said for City of Light. “I should say this, I didn’t think a mile and an eighth would be a problem, the added distance would be a problem… He was loaded at the half mile pole. At the time I was nervous, because you worry if they are going to show up after the running starts, but when they got to the quarter pole and Drayden hadn’t moved his hands, I had the utmost confidence in my horse.”