Ekati's Phaeton Strikes in Davona Dale Upset
Ekati's Phaeton was dismissed at 26-1 in the $200,000 Davona Dale Stakes (G2) despite possessing a 4-3-0-0 record at Gulfstream Park, but belied those boxcar odds with a game front-running performance.
Jockey Luis Saez ensured his mount would secure the early lead, and she set an honest pace while chased by New York shipper Jacaranda through a :45.60 opening half. Favored Eskenformoney took up the chase at the top of the stretch and second-choice Birdatthewire joined the party in midstretch, but Ekati's Phaeton dug in stubbornly to prevail by a neck at the wire. The final time for the one-mile test was 1:37.66.
“I know when she’s in front, she’s a different horse," Saez said. "She broke good, so I said, ‘Let’s go in front.’ I know she’ll fight. She’s likes to fight. When the other horses were coming, she kept fighting. She always does good when there’s competition.”
A brilliant winner of her first two outings at Gulfstream Park last summer, Ekati's Phaeton recorded a hard-fought success in the Old Hat Stakes (G3) on January 3. Her perfect mark in Hallandale Beach was marred when she never saw the lead in the Forward Gal Stakes (G2) three weeks later, and wound up fourth behind Birdatthewire. Trainer Bill Kaplan was confident the daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Tale of Ekati would get back on track this afternoon.
"This filly has the most speed of any filly I've ever trained, and I trained Musical Romance to win the Breeders' Cup," Kaplan offered. "In all of her races prior to this one, I've been trying to teach her to stay off it a little bit and keep herself in reserve. We didn't do too good last time doing it that way, but the rider (Luis Saez) said she wants to be up front, so I told him to just let her go. We let her go today and he proved he was right. She's an amazing horse."
Kaplan indicated that the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) at a mile and a sixteenth on March 28 was a possible next start for Ekati's Phaeton.
"She's carried her speed a mile and I don't see why she can't carry it further," Kaplan noted. "She jumped a shadow or something after an eighth of a mile, but once she got the lead and she was holding them off on the turn, I thought she had something left. He never really asked her until they turned for home."
Birdatthewire, ridden by Corey Lanerie for trainer Dale Romans, put in a long, wide rally to finish second, edging Eskenformoney by a neck.
“She ran a game, game race," Romans remarked. "There’s nothing negative to say about her. Three horses hit the wire pretty game. I was hoping (Ekati’s Phaeton) was herding us a little bit, but I didn’t see an inquiry anywhere. Bill Kaplan is an very underrated trainer. He’s proven he can do it. He did it with a champion filly before. Those were three good horses with three good riders all the way to the wire. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Donegal Racing's Puca was far behind early, but came on late to finish fourth.
"I thought it was a good trip," jockey Joel Rosario said. "The track was a little bit speedy and they didn’t come back. The horses that went to the lead just stayed right there. She made a little move right past the three-and-a-half and she was picking them up a little, but she just couldn’t catch the ones in the front. They just kept on going.”
Bred in Kentucky by Haymarket Farm & Machmer Hall, Ekati's Phaeton was purchased for $50,000 as a yearling in Ocala, Fl. She is campaigned by Jim and Mona Bryant's Phaedrus Flights LLC, and has now bankrolled $241,840 in winning four of seven career outings.
Source: Gulfstream Park Press Release