Thomas M. McCann’s homebred CATCOMINATCHA (Tale of the Cat) split horses in
the final furlong and gamely out-finished High Cotton (Dixie Union) to win
Saturday’s $116,700
Iroquois S. (G3) by neck. Rafael Bejarano guided the Eddie
Kenneally charge, who rallied to win the one-mile fast track event on Churchill Downs’
inaugural “Stars of Tomorrow” program in 1:36 1/5, and the two-year-old colt
returned $18.20, $7.80 and $5.40 as the 8-1 fourth choice in the 13-horse field.
Runner-up in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) previously, Catcominatcha settled in
midpack as Sharp Attack (Storm Cat) and Right Place n Time (Coronado’s Quest)
dueled through fractions of :22 and :45 over the fast track with High Cotton
closely tracking on the rail. Bejarano began to advance on the far turn but
briefly lacked room behind a wall of horses approaching the stretch as Javier
Castellano surged to the front aboard High Cotton and opened up a short lead,
setting the six-furlong split in 1:10 1/5. Catcominatcha quickly regained his
momentum, splitting horses and catching the leader inside the sixteenth pole
with a strong turn of foot. The runner-up battled gamely but could not match
strides late.
The winner keyed a $97.20 exacta with High Cotton, who was worth $8.20 and
$6.40 at 7-1. It was 4 1/2 lengths back to Mondavi (Maria’s Mon), who rallied
for third at 72-1 and paid $18. The trifecta totaled $4,860.40, and the 5-2-3-1
superfecta, with Mr. Pinstripe (Yankee Victor) in fourth, gave back a whopping $22,320.50 for $1. Flanders Fields
(A.P. (Indy), the
prohibitive 3-2 favorite, came next under the wire and was followed by Charley
Tango (Maria’s Mon), Red Raymond (Deputy Commander), Laity (Pulpit), Right Place
n Time, Testimony (Yes It’s True), Sharp Attack, Grand Survival (Grand Slam) and Brassie Prince (Storm and a Half).
The Kentucky-bred Catcominatcha earned his first stakes victory following
runner-up finishes in the James C. Ellis Juvenile S. and aforementioned
Breeders’ Futurity, and the chestnut now owns a 6-2-2-0 mark with $200,034 in
earnings. He’s the third registered foal from the unraced Certainly a Star (Red
Ransom), who is also the dam of an unnamed yearling filly by Stormin Fever and a
weanling High Yield filly.