Majestic Harbor sails home in Tokyo City Cup

Majestic Harbor rolled from off a contested pace to give trainer Sean McCarthy his first graded win (Benoit Photos) Gallant Stable’s Majestic Harbor thrived on the stretch-out to 1 1/2 miles in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,750 Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita, kicking clear to earn his first career stakes victory by three lengths. He also gave trainer Sean McCarthy his first graded score. Under a well-judged ride by Tyler Baze, Majestic Harbor was perched a few lengths off a contested early pace. Segway and 2-1 favorite Blueskiesnrainbows battled through quick fractions of :23 2/5 and :46 3/5 for such a marathon. They began to slow down through six furlongs in 1:12 1/5, and Blueskiesnrainbows was the first to give way under his top weight of 123 pounds. By that point, Majestic Harbor was eager to go on, and Baze didn’t discourage him. Drawing alongside Segway at the mile mark in 1:38, the 5-1 shot blew the race open on the far turn. Majestic Harbor, who reached the 1 1/4-mile split in 2:03 1/5, posted a final time of 2:29 4/5 and paid $13.60 to win. “I was really pleased with the fractions,” McCarthy said. “He settled well in the first turn. When he went by the wire the first time he was in perfect position on the outside. This horse likes being on the outside and left alone and Tyler just had him in a perfect rhythm.

“That was the key, really. You’re going a mile and a half for the first time,
you’re never sure if you’re going to get that distance, but to get that
distance, you’d better settle down and get into a good rhythm and that’s exactly
what he did.”

“He’s a really nice horse,” Baze said. “I let him find his own pace today.
He’s been training really forwardly in the mornings. After I rode him in his
last race (fourth in the San Antonio) we worked him twice in blinkers, we wanted
to keep his mind on business and it really changed him. It was unbelievable, the
way he worked so I was expecting him to run big today.

“When he hit his stride and was clicking along smooth, I just let him gallop
by everybody and when he decided it was time to go, it was time to go. I wasn’t
going to wait around for somebody to come up to us. He’s getting it all together
now so maybe this will change his heart.”

Argentine import Ever Rider closed for second, and Segway held third by a
neck from American Blend. Blueskiesnrainbows checked in another 9 1/4 lengths
adrift in fifth, followed by Toccetive, Niagara Falls and Tiz Dynamic.

Majestic Harbor has now bankrolled $331,764 from a record of 21-5-6-3.
Trained by Paul McGee earlier in his career, the son of Rockport Harbor tried
the 2011 Louisiana Derby off a big maiden win, ended up ninth, and headed to the
sidelines. He split time between McCarthy and McGee as a four-year-old, again
finishing unplaced in his stakes attempts in the 2012 Ralph Hinds at Fairplex
and the Tenacious at Fair Grounds.

One year ago, Majestic Harbor contested the New Orleans Handicap, where he
set the pace before retreating to sixth. Following a fifth in the Texas Mile and
a distant fourth in a Churchill allowance last May, he was shelved. The
six-year-old resurfaced with McCarthy this winter, and turned in an encouraging
second in the January 11 San Pasqual before a fourth in the February 8 San
Antonio. Connections opted to swerve the Santa Anita Handicap in favor of this
spot, and were rewarded.

When McCarthy was asked where he’d go from here, he quipped, “To get a beer.”

Bred by Liberation Farm and Brandywine Farm in Kentucky, Majestic Harbor
brought $20,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. The bay was produced by the
stakes-placed French Deputy mare Champagne Royale, making him a half-brother to
last year’s Saratoga Special third, Danza.

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