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Cacique continues love affair with Belmont Juddmonte Farms' homebred CACIQUE (Ire) (Danehill) exploded late along the inside to garner the $500,000 Man o' War S. (G1) on Saturday, remaining perfect from two starts over Belmont Park's inner turf. The Bobby Frankel charge finished 1 3/8 miles on good ground in 2:15 3/5 as the 8-5 favorite beneath Edgar Prado. Unlike his pace-prompting trips in last three starts, Cacique was content to rate in fifth early as Ramazutti (Honor Grades) took charge, clocking an opening quarter in a tepid :24. With an overeager Showing Up (Strategic Mission) breathing down his neck, Ramazutti carved out soft fractions of :49 4/5, 1:15 3/5 and 1:40 4/5. Late on the far turn, Showing Up was finally given his head, and the three-year-old collared the longtime leader entering the stretch. At the same time, Prado saw a golden opening along the hedge and angled his mount toward it. The rest was purely Cacique, as the dark bay darted through, and in a stunning display of accelerative power, subdued the field en route to a 1 3/4-length score. "They came running out of the gate, so I took back and stayed covered up," Prado said. "Everything was beautiful. I was looking for a place to go, and the horse just took off like a rocket. Out of all of his races where I've ridden him, this was his best kick." "This might have been his best race yet," Frankel similarly opined. "The way he finished -- how could he finish any faster? He came home the last eighth in less than :11 on not a very fast turf course. He won the Manhattan (H. [G1]) on the lead, but I think his best race is to be firing at a horse." Frankel also explained that Cacique looks better racing than he does in his routine morning exercise. "The way he trains in the morning, he never impresses you, so it's hard to get high on him," the horseman said. "In the afternoon, when you put him on the grass, he accelerates." Go Deputy (Deputy Minister) had charged from next to last to reach contention while ranging up four wide on the turn, and after a stretch duel with Showing Up, just snared second from his younger rival on the nod. It was another 2 1/2 lengths back to Cosmonaut (Lemon Drop Kid) in fourth, a nose in front of Relaxed Gesture (Ire) (Indian Ridge), followed by Crowned Point (Honor Grades) and Ramazutti. Cacique furnished payouts of $5.40, $2.80 and $2.20 while spearheading exotics totaling $21.80 (exacta) and $50 (6-2-3 trifecta). The 4-1 Go Deputy returned $3.70 and $2.90, and Showing Up yielded $2.90 as the 2-1 second choice. The winner boosted his earnings to $1,462,331 from a mark of 17-7-5-1. Cacique now has two Grade 1 scores to his credit, both at Belmont Park, having prevailed in the aforementioned Manhattan. Aside from a luckless fourth in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1) in his American debut, the five-year-old has consistently reported home in the top two, including game second-place efforts in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. (G1), United Nations S. (G1) and Arlington Million S. (G1) in his prior start. Previously trained in France by Andre Fabre, the dark bay captured the Prix Daniel Wildenstein (Fr-G2) and Prix Daphnis (Fr-G3) in 2004 and the Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord (Fr-G3) in 2005. His resume also includes placings in three French Group 1 events. The Irish-bred is just the latest in a series of outstanding Grade 1 winners sired by Danehill and produced by the remarkable Hasili (Ire), a stakes-winning daughter of Kahyasi. The illustrious siblings are Dansili (GB), French and English highweight in 2000; Banks Hill (GB), American champion turf mare in 2001 and European champion in 2001 and 2002; and Intercontinental (GB), American champion turf mare in 2005. Their half-sister, Heat Haze (GB) (Green Desert) was a multiple Grade 1 winner in 2003. Hasili's three-year-old colt Champs Elysees (Danehill) is a winner in France and was most recently runner-up in the June 26 Prix Daphnis at Longchamp. Cacique could get the chance to emulate his Breeders' Cup-winning sisters Banks Hill and Intercontinental on November 4 at Churchill Downs. "I'm thinking (about the Breeders' Cup)," Frankel said.
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