Battle of Midway Outlasts McKinzie in San Pasqual

 By Bloodhorse

Grade 1 winners dueled in the stretch and a half-length separated them at the wire.

If you were handicapping jockey behavior early in the second turn of the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2) Feb. 2 at Santa Anita Park, heavily favored McKinzie looked like a clear winner.

Although he was between horses, his two rivals—Giant Expectations on the inside and Battle of Midway on the outside—appeared all-in.



Jockey Flavien Prat aboard Battle of Midway even brought out the whip to give his mount a couple of cracks to keep up as Mike Smith aboard McKinzie looked patient and loaded.

But as Giant Expectations faded, the stretch run was owned by Battle of Midway and McKinzie, and the horse who needed some reminders to keep up in the turn had plenty of fight left.

Until the final strides, little separated the two grade 1 winners in a duel to the wire, but Battle of Midway found just enough on the outside to prevail by a half-length.

"I think the key was being outside," Prat said of the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained son of Smart Strike owned by Don Alberto Stable and WinStar Farm. "The draw was very important. I don't think either horse likes to get pressure inside, and I was able to stay just outside of McKinzie the whole way. My horse likes to play around a little when he makes the lead, but he still finished good."

Battle of Midway, who broke from the outside in the field of five, pretty much shadowed McKinzie (who left gate 4), just off his hip most of the trip, all the way around the racetrack. When McKinzie made his move in the backstretch, Battle of Midway moved, too, and never lost touch.

"I broke in front of him, but if I had to do it over again, I would have taken my horse back," Smith said.



Giant Expectations held third, 4 1/4 lengths behind McKinzie and 5 1/2 lengths ahead of Pavel, after he set fractions of :22.86, :46.09, and 1:09.33 through six furlongs. Battle of Midway finished the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:46.95 on a sloppy (sealed) track. Dalmore, who vied for the early lead, dropped back harshly in the backstretch and finished far back in last.

"I thought we could get (McKinzie), and I thought Prat rode a great race," Hollendorfer said. "The other horse fought back, but we got lucky in the last couple jumps."

The San Pasqual was the fourth graded win for Battle of Midway, who was bred by Thor-Bred Stables in Kentucky out of the grade 1-winning Concerto mare Rigoletta. He now has an 8-4-2 record from 16 starts and more than $1.5 million in earnings.