As might have been expected, a contested pace helped to set up Gio Ponti’s
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Although Enriched took command midway on the far turn, getting six furlongs
in 1:11 4/5, both he and Acting Zippy were about to beat a retreat down the
lane. Courageous Cat, making his first start since his fruitless trip to Dubai
in March, rallied to the lead and pulled clear in midstretch.
All this time, Dominguez sat chilly, and Gio Ponti was still in a canter as
he commenced his bid between Get Stormy and Society’s Chairman. The only
question was whether the 4-5 favorite might get pinched back, but he was always
going well enough to secure his position.
Gio Ponti glided forward to confront Courageous Cat, who drifted out and
bumped the champion. Shrugging it off, Gio Ponti easily moved past a tiring
Courageous Cat. The lone threat to Gio Ponti was Society’s Chairman, who had
been moving in tandem with him, but ultimately could not keep pace. Gio Ponti
was not pressed to pull away, completing the firm-turf event in 1:35 and paying
$3.60, $2.60 and $2.10.
Society’s Chairman, overlooked at 18-1, gave back $8 and $3.40 while
finishing 1 1/4 lengths clear of third. Courageous Cat filled the show spot and
returned $2.80 as the 3-1 third choice. The exotics were worth $32.80 (exacta),
$117 (trifecta) and $254.40 (4-5-3-1 superfecta) with Get Stormy another two
lengths back in fourth. Enriched and Acting Zippy rounded out the order under
the wire.
The Shadwell, just Gio Ponti’s second win of the year, boosted his bankroll
to $4,677,800 from his 22-11-7-0 line. Gio Ponti was bouncing back from a
heartbreaking reverse as the defending champion in the August 21 Arlington
Million (G1), where he was just caught in the final strides by Debussy (Ire)
(Diesis [GB]). That was emblematic of his somewhat frustrating 2010 campaign. He
just missed by a nostril in the Tampa Bay S. in his seasonal debut, checked in
fourth in a paceless Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), and was mugged on the line by his
stablemate Winchester (Theatrical [Ire]) in the June 5 Manhattan H. (G1). Gio
Ponti next scored a last-gasp title defense in the July 10 Man o’ War S. (G1).
In contrast, the reigning champion turf horse, and older male, enjoyed a
stellar 2009. He posted four straight wins in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1),
Manhattan, Man o’ War and Arlington Million, and garnered runner-up honors
behind the sublime Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]) in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on
Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride. Gio Ponti’s other stakes placing last year was a second
on soft ground in the 1 1/2-mile Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (G1).
Over the course of his exceptional career, Gio Ponti has recorded a total of
10 stakes wins and seven stakes placings. At two, he captured the 2007 Bourbon
S. at Keeneland prior to a badly-troubled eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Turf. Gio Ponti added to his haul as a sophomore, scoring victories in the 2008
Virginia Derby (G2), Hill Prince S. (G3) and Sir Beaufort S. (G3), the latter in
his synthetic debut. He also finished second in the Del Mar Derby (G2) and
Jamaica H. (G2) during that campaign.
Bred by Kilboy Estate in Kentucky, Gio Ponti is out of the stakes-placed
Chipeta Springs (Alydar), making him a half-brother to multiple stakes winner
Bon Jovi Girl (Malibu Moon), third in last year’s Gazelle S. (G1), and stakes
victor Fisher Pond (A.P. Indy). Chipeta Springs’ latest offspring are both by
Bernstein, an unnamed yearling filly and a weanling colt. Gio Ponti’s second dam
is Argentinean Group 1 queen Salt Spring (Arg) (Salt Marsh). This is the family
of Grade 1 victor Mongoose (Broad Brush), Grade 3 scorers Hesanoldsalt (Broad
Brush) and Puxa Saco (Dehere), and further back, two-time Horse of the Year
Cigar (Palace Music).