Rob Tunnicliffe and Jerry Hollendorfer’s Our Nautique headed
straight for the front when the gates opened on Saturday’s $100,000 Grade 3
San
Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields and never looked back en route to
a 1 1/4-length victory under jockey Kevin Krigger. The Hollendorfer trainee was
made the 19-1 seventh choice in the nine-horse field, and returned nice payouts
of $40.40, $16 and $7.40 for earning his first stakes win.
Establishing splits of :24 1/5 and :48 4/5 early on, Our Nautique was chased
to his outside by Hudson Landing and Blue Chagall. Those two had drawn almost on even terms by the time the eventual winner
reached six furlongs in 1:11 4/5, but Krigger asked Our Nautique for more run
and the gelding responded. As his rivals fell back, the bay six-year-old dug in
for the stretch run as Gallant Son put in a game rally. Our Nautique gutted out the win while finishing the firm-turf mile in 1:35 3/5.
Sebastian Flyte, runner-up in last year’s Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, was sent off the near even-money favorite and finished another three parts
of a length back in third. Defending champion Bold Chieftain wound up fourth in just his fourth start since last year’s race and was followed
under the wire by Baton Roo, Hudson Landing, Blue Chagall, Dream Nettie and Times Gone By.
Our Nautique has faced black-type rivals only one other time, finishing third
in last November’s Grade 3 All American on Golden Gate’s Tapeta. The former
claimer entered this one off a runner-up placing in the March Madness Starter Handicap
at Santa Anita, and now boasts $191,340 in lifetime earnings to go along with
his 24-7-4-4 career mark.
Bred in New Zealand by R.M. Tunnicliffe, the son of Pins is out of French Tide, who is a half-sister to stakes victress Sea Regent and multiple stakes winner Play the Hornpipe. Sea Regent
is herself the dam of Canadian Grade 2 hero Desert Waves as well as
stakes scorers Duckpower, Search the Sea, Spinnakers
Flying and Wave Wise. Spinnakers Flying would go on in the breeding shed to
produce 2003 Grade 3 Connaught Cup winner Fly Smartly.