Raging Whiskey thrives around one turn in Los Alamitos' Capote
A cutback in distance and the addition of blinkers after a one-race absence proved the winning moves for Raging Whiskey in the $75,000 Capote Stakes on Saturday at Los Alamitos.
After breaking on top from his outside post position under jockey Rafael Bejarano, the Bourbon Courage colt simply improved his position from there, ultimately cruising to an eight-length victory in the inaugural running of the contest for 2-year-old colts & geldings.
Trained by Doug O’Neill for Pappas Horse Racing Corp. and Charles Bartlett, Raging Whiskey, who is out of the Quiet American mare Fullerene, completed the 6 ½ furlongs in 1:15.61.
The win was the second in six starts for Raging Whiskey and increased his earnings to $107,576. The Maryland bred returned $8.60, $3.40 and $4 as the 3-1 second choice in the field of seven.
Dapper, a first out winner vs. fellow California breds Aug. 30 at Del Mar, finished second, 4 ¼ lengths in front of 26-1 shot Georgian Road. He paid $4.80 and $3.40 while the show price on Georgian Road was $7.60.
Completing the order of finish were Tap Back, Prince Magician, Side Street Dave and Hydrogen, the 7-10 favorite for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
“The plan was just to run back to his form prior to his last two,’’ said O’Neill, who also won the second race with So Gucci in tandem with Bejarano. “Rafael’s been coming to work him and he’s been doing really well in the morning.
“Rafael was so excited when he came into the paddock with Raging Whiskey’s post and how he’d been doing in the morning.
“Raging Whiskey really mirrored the enthusiasm Rafael showed and ran huge today. We took off the blinkers when we stretched him out (Sept. 1 in the one-mile Del Mar Juvenile Turf) hoping it would settle him, but instead it made him real nervous and anxious. He’s definitely better with the blinkers on and I think going one turn.’’
Heading into the final day of the Los Angeles County Fair meet, apprentice jockey Jorge I. Velez, who led the Summer Thoroughbred Festival earlier in the year, has a 10-9 lead over Assael Espinoza. Martin Garcia is third with seven wins.
Baffert leads the trainers with seven victories, two more than Mark Glatt and O’Neill.