Caixa Eletronica goes from claim to fame in Westchester

Caixa Eletronica lit up the toteboard at 10-1 in the Westchester (Ross Woodson/Horsephotos.com) With the help of stablemate Christmas for Liam (Saint Liam), CAIXA ELETRONICA (Arromanches) made a great first impression in his debut for owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher in Saturday’s $98,000 Westchester S. (G3) at Belmont Park. In the catbird seat in third down the backside as Christmas for Liam set a wicked pace of :22 1/5, :44 3/5 and 1:08 4/5, Caixa Eletronica advanced to second approaching the quarter pole then zoomed past the tired leader through the stretch to win the one-mile test by a widening three lengths. An overlay at 10-1 in the field of five, Caixa Eletronica returned $22, $7 and $7.40. Christmas for Liam, making his stakes debut as the 9-5 second choice, outhustled last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Haynesfield (Speightstown) for the lead and maintained a one-length advantage over that rival to the far turn. Haynesfield, making his first start since November, yielded his position to the eventual winner approaching the stretch and ultimately did not pass Christmas for Liam until the very end. Neither was any match for Caixa Eletronica, who finished up in a time of 1:34 1/5 over a fast track under Cornelio Velasquez. The strong pace also aided 9-2 chance Convocation (Pulpit), the runner-up in the 2010 Westchester, who rallied from more than 10 lengths down to be a clear second by 1 1/4 lengths. Schoolyard Dreams (Stephen Got Even), the 35-1 outsider, came on late to pip a tired Haynesfield by a neck for third with Christmas for Liam a length behind that one in last. Soaring Empire (Empire Maker), who likely would have been no worse than third choice, was scratched.

“Regardless of the pace scenario, we felt if he just sat and made one run it
was going to be conducive to his racing style,” said Jonathan Thomas, assistant
to Todd Pletcher. “You would have to consider the Met Mile ([G1] on May 30).
He’s a real generous horse and it seems like you can do whatever you need to do
with him. Cornelio gave him a great ride and he ran beautifully.”

Caixa Eletronica is the second horse Repole and Pletcher have scooped up from
the claiming ranks and turned into a graded stakes winner in the past six
months. Calibrachoa (Southern Image) was claimed by the pair for $40,000 at
Aqueduct in November and has subsequently won three straight, including the Tom
Fool H. (G3) and Toboggan S. (G3).

Having spent much of his career alternating between allowances and claimers,
Caixa Eletronica started to become slightly more competitive on the lower end of
black-type company last summer when placing in the Kelly’s Landing S. and Don
Bernhardt S. in Kentucky. He raced four times at the recently concluded
Gulfstream Park meeting, running a solid third in the Gulfstream Park Sprint
Championship (G2) and winning twice over a mile while racing for a $62,500
optional tag. He was haltered by Pletcher in the latter of those two wins March
9. His record now stands at 41-13-7-7, $321,705.

Produced by Edyta (Skip Away), who also has a juvenile filly named Arce Doce
(Safado), Caixa Eletronica counts as his fourth dam the stakes-winning My
Charmer, most famously the dam of Triple Crown winner and Hall of Famer Seattle
Slew (Bold Reasoning). My Charmer also produced Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1)
winner Lomond (Northern Dancer) and his multiple Group 2-winning three-quarter
brother Seattle Dancer (Nijinsky II), who fetched $13.1 million as a yearling at
the 1985 Keeneland July sale. Caixa Eletronica’s sixth dam was Myrtle Charm (Alsab),
the champion juvenile filly of 1948.