Saturday, December 29, 2012

A Three-Year-Old to Watch: Distinctiv Passion

While he won't officially turn three for a couple of days yet, Distinctiv Passion gave warning that he will be a force to reckon with in next year's Kentucky Derby preps when he put away a good field to win a six-furlong allowance race at Santa Anita on December 28th.

Skillfully ridden by Edwin Maldonado, Distinctiv Passion broke beautifully and opened up a clear advantage early on while running the opening quarter in a blazing :21.66 seconds. Longshot Disarm was tracking him in second, about two lengths clear of Know More and Super Ninety Nine, the latter being the heavy favorite at 4-5. Counting Days and Mico Margarita were the trailers.

Distinctiv Passion continued to lead the way through a half-mile in :44.28, and turned for home well in command of the race. Disarm gamely tried to stay with him in the stretch, but could not match strides with the speedy front-runner, who turned on the afterburners in deep stretch to win going away by 2 1/2 lengths. The final time was a quick 1:08.61.

Mico Margarita rallied mildly to secure third, followed by Super Ninety Nine, Counting Days, and Know More, who dropped out of contention rounding the turn and was beaten 21 1/2 lengths.

The winner, a son of With Distinction out of the West by West mare Dance Forthe Green, is trained by Jeff Bonde and owned by Edward Brown, Jr. He has now compiled a record of 2-0-1 from four starts, with earnings of $74,400.

-Keelerman

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