When 1-5 favorite Analyze It collared Catholic Boy and edged away in midstretch of Saturday’s $196,000 Pennine Ridge (G3), the unbeaten colt looked on the verge of extending his record to 4-0. But Catholic Boy wasn’t done. Despite being trespassed against by Analyze It, who cut across his path and forced him to check, the 4-1 second choice steered to the outside, came again, and beat him by a neck.
Thus for the second time in about six hours, a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) veteran upstaged a hitherto undefeated odds-on favorite. The first came when Masar upset Saturday’s Derby (G1) at Epsom, where 4-5 favorite Saxon Warrior was only fourth.
Catholic Boy, a close fourth in the Juvenile Turf with Masar a hampered sixth, was reverting to the lawn for the first time since. Pitched onto dirt to try the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail, the Jonathan Thomas trainee romped in the Remsen (G2), finished a creditable second to Flameaway in the February 10 Sam F. Davis (G3), but ran a subpar fourth behind Audible in the Florida Derby (G1). Catholic Boy was found to have bled. His connections opted to give him time to regroup, and he rewarded their patience here.
Campaigned by Robert V. LaPenta, Madaket Stables, Siena Farm, and Twin Creeks Racing Stables, Catholic Boy took the initiative right out of the gate. New rider Javier Castellano cleverly made use of his inside post 3 to grab the lead and prevent Analyze It from controlling affairs as he pleased. The More Than Ready colt posted fractions of :23.71 and :47.76 on the firm inner turf, stalked by Analyze It. Untamed Domain crept forward down the backstretch, as though to try to pocket Analyze It, but did not succeed.
As Catholic Boy quickened to reach the six-furlong mark in 1:10.17, Analyze It was perched on his flank, and they raced clear of Untamed Domain on the far turn. Analyze It appeared to have Catholic Boy’s measure as he made his move in upper stretch, brushing him, and got a length up at the mile split in 1:33.18.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the winner’s circle. After lugging in and taking Catholic Boy’s path, Analyze It did not continue his momentum. Perhaps that serious injection of pace in the middle stages (as noted by David Aragona on Twitter) took the starch out of his closing kick. Whatever the reason, Analyze It stayed within striking range of Catholic Boy, who had more left to give.
To his great credit, Catholic Boy displayed a willing attitude to pick himself up again and go after the favorite. Having to break stride and lose momentum at that point, especially having spent energy leading for the first time in his life, could have dented the enthusiasm of a lesser horse.
Persevering to the end, Catholic Boy turned a sure defeat into an improbable victory in a final time of 1:45.78 for 1 1/8 miles. Considering how Catholic Boy was hampered by Analyze It, one might not have expected Analyze It’s rider, Jose Ortiz, to lodge a claim of foul against Castellano. The stewards, who were conducting an inquiry into the stretch run anyway, disallowed the claim and made no change.
The top two were in a race of their own, for late-running third Channel Cat checked in another 4 1/4 lengths back. Untamed Domain, taken out of his one-run game by that early gambit, retreated to fourth, and Irish Territory trailed.
The key withdrawal was cross-entered Hawkish, who instead crushed Saturday evening’s Penn Mile (G2). He has overlapping co-ownership with Catholic Boy, principally LaPenta but also Madaket Stables. But the pair may be bound for a clash in the $1.2 million Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) July 7.
Now an earner of $522,000 from a 7-4-1-0 line, Catholic Boy began his career on turf. The bay scored on debut at Gulfstream Park and invaded Saratoga to upset the With Anticipation (G3) at 12-1. Catholic Boy was deliberately freshened ahead of the Breeders’ Cup, but his performance may have caused some second-guessing about whether he should have had a prep. He moved forward substantially next time in the Remsen.
Catholic Boy was bred by Fred W. Hertrich III and John Fielding in Kentucky and RNA’d for $170,000 as a “short” yearling at Keeneland January. The well-named colt is out of Song of Bernadette, a daughter of Bernardini and descendant of Argentine champion *Le Sevillana. She is also the ancestress of Canadian champion La Lorgnette, dam of Hawk Wing.
Quotes from Belmont Park
Winning rider Javier Castellano: “My horse has such a good heart. You don’t see too many horses like that when you check at the top of the stretch and they come back and win the race, especially at a mile and an eighth. I give a lot of credit to the horse and trainer. I didn’t think he would win. (After the interference) I was just riding for second place, but Analyze It started to stop and my horse continued, continued, continued. I thought ‘I’m not going to win the race,’ but it worked out great.”
Winning trainer Jonathan Thomas: “He’s been nothing but reliable. We have asked him a lot of questions. I’m proud of his effort and his tenacity. We came into the race thinking we were going to finish second, and we were going to be happy with that. But this horse wants more ground. He just wants more ground on the turf.”
On advancing to the Belmont Derby: “I think you have to keep it in consideration, absolutely. It’s a great addition to the racing scene. Essentially, it’s a turf classic, so to speak. Honestly, it was kind of on our radar screen when he as a 2-year-old, but the Remsen kind of muddled things up a little.”
