The grassy 12-furlong $150,000
San Luis Obispo H. (G3)
was taken off the turf Saturday at Santa Anita due to heavy rainfall at the
Arcadia, California, oval and, consequently, was downgraded from to a Grade 3,
pending review by the American Graded Stakes Committee. LICENSE TO RUN (Brz)
(Exile King), the likely favorite if the race would have been run over the lawn,
left the gates as the post-time favorite nonetheless, and did not disappoint his
supporters on the sloppy track.
Trained by Bobby Frankel, the dark bay was sent off at 3-2 under jockey Pat
Valenzuela. The five-year-old rated just behind soft fractions of :49 1/5 for
the half, before moving up to take command through six furlongs in 1:14 2/5, a
mile in 1:40 and 10 furlongs in
2:03 3/5. Turning for home, Valenzuela asked his horse for his best run, sliding
up the rail and kicking clear entering the final furlong to post a five-length
victory.
The duo stopped the clock
in 2:28 3/5 for the sloppy mile and a half, giving back $5, $3.80 and $2.80. They were followed by Californian (GB) (Zafonic), who was worth $30.20 and $10
at 45-1 and was just a neck ahead of T. H. Approval (With Approval), who
returned $3.60. The $1 exacta paid $83.20, the $1 trifecta totaled $438.30 and the
4-5-7-1 superfecta with Gorylla (Brz) (New Colony) gave back $4,283.30 for $1.
Crossing the line after the top four were Special Matter (River Special),
Sigfreto (Spunky Rascal), Balustrade (Green Dancer) and Continental Red (Flying
Continental).
License to Run is a Group 1 winner in his native Brazil and nearly earned
that same status in his first U.S. start, the Hollywood Turf Cup (G1), where he
finished a neck back in third. He now shows a lifetime record of 11-5-2-1,
$155,84.
Bred in Brazil by Haras Bage Do Sul, License To Run is out of the Salt Marsh
mare Pasiflora and counts himself as a half-brother to the Group 1-placed
Breeders’ Song (Solstein).