Run Away left the competition in his wake in Saturday’s $200,000 Best Pal (G2) at Del Mar, dominating from far turn to finish line in the 6 ½-furlong test for 2-year-olds. A comfortable winner of the July 3 Santa Anita Juvenile in his previous outing, the Run Away and Hide colt won eased up by a 3 ½-length margin beneath Flavien Prat.
Now 3-for-3 for owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Simon Callaghan, Run Away rates as the West Coast’s leading juvenile presently and has displayed an affinity for the seaside oval at Del Mar, which will host the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in early November. Run Away will aim next for the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity (G1) on September 4.
An Ocala Ten sprinted to a short lead after the break and Run Away showed good speed from the rail post, tracking the pacesetter in second through an opening quarter-mile in :22.13. He edged closer rounding the bend and after a half-mile in :45.10, Run Away blew into the lead with a nice turn of foot, powering away to a widening advantage as he entered the stretch.
The winner reached the eighth-pole with a four-length edge and cruised to the finish line, scoring as the 3-2 second choice among eight runners. The final time was 1:17.91.
“I knew he’d run well; he’d been training so well. But I didn’t really expect to win by that far,” Prat said. “Simon (trainer Simon Callaghan) has done a great job with him, though, and he’s a very talented colt, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Can he run farther? We don’t know. We know he can run six and a half furlongs, so we’ll enjoy that for a while.”
“I think it was even better than his last race,” Callaghan added. “He’s got great gate speed but he isn’t one of those horses that is speed crazy. I thought he’d get over this track well. I was a little nervous when he put in a slow breeze (5 furlongs, 1:03.60 a week earlier) when I was in Saratoga. But my team here assured me that it was a good breeze. He’s just a cool horse – fast, very mature and I think he’s going to get better as we stretch out. The Futurity is next.”
Dia de Pago was away slowly from the gate and trailed most of the way before rallying commendably to be a non-threatening second at 26-1 odds, 2 ½ lengths clear of the late-running Fleetwood, the 6-1 third choice. It was another three lengths to 40-1 outsider Master Ruler in fourth.
Serengeti, favored at 6-5 following an 11-length maiden winner for Bob Baffert, got away slowly from the starting gate and after offering a middle move into contention, he weakened significantly to finish a well-beaten sixth.
Bred in Kentucky by Erv Woosley & Ralph Kinder, Run Away passed through the sales ring three times. After RNA’ing for $9,500 as a weanling, he sold for $35,000 as a 2016 OBS August yearling. The bay was pinhooked for $325,000 at the Barrett’s 2-year-old sale earlier this year and Run Away is the first stakes winner from the Pulpit mare Cabales.
