Tapiture rides the rail to victory in the Southwest Stakes

Tapiture, breaking from the rail, saved ground from the start of the $400,000 Southwest Stakes (gr. III) and drew away strongly in the homestretch to win the 1 1/16th-mile Kentucky Derby prep race in decisive fashion over Strong Mandate.

Ridden to victory by Ricardo Santana Jr., Tapiture got off to a clean start and quickly races into second place as Tanzanite Cat sprinted away to grab the early advantage through a quarter in :23.45 seconds. Coastline, Louies Flower, Kendall's Boy, and Ride On Curlin also flashed speed from the start, and with a very short run to the first turn, several horses were caught extremely wide entering the turn -- Ride On Curlin was hung about seven wide, with even-money favorite Strong Mandate in a similar position. Paganol, Walt, Bourbonize, Son of Dixie, and Fire Starter were the early trailers.

In order to avoid getting hung wide around the entire first turn, Ride On Curlin's jockey Calvin Borel asked his mount for more speed, and the colt quickly cleared several horses to his inside and challenged Tanzanite Cat and Tapiture for the lead. By the time the field had run a half-mile in :47.92 seconds, Ride On Curlin actually had his head in front of Tanzanite Cat and Tapiture, who continued to keep pace along the inside. Strong Mandate had also made a move to reach contention, and was racing in the fourth spot on the far outside.

The positions remained relatively unchanged through the next quarter mile, which was reached in the time of 1:13.06. At that point, Tapiture began to open up a bit of an advantage over Tanzanite Cat, who was tiring, and also Ride On Curlin. Strong Mandate made an effort to move with the leader on the far outside, but was caught wide throughout the final turn, and had little left by the time the field entered the homestretch. At that point, Tapiture kicked clear decisively from his pursuers, extending his lead to three lengths past the eighth pole and to 4 1/4 lengths at the finish, despite drifting through the homestretch. The final time for 1 1/16th miles was 1:44.95 seconds

Strong Mandate finished clearly second best, although he too drifted a great deal in the homestretch. Ride On Curlin held on to be third, six lengths behind Strong Mandate and a half-length clear of Coastline. Tanzanite Cat, Bourbonize, Walt, Fire Starter, Son of Dixie, Paganol, Kendall's Boy, and Louies Flower completed the order of finish.

Tapiture is a son of Tapit out of Free Spin, by Olympio. Owned and bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds, he is trained by Steve Asmussen and has compiled a record of two wins, a second, a two thirds from five starts, with earnings of $320,838. For his victory in the Southwest, Tapiture earned 10 Kentucky Derby qualification points, bringing his total to 22.

-Keelerman