Monday, October 13, 2008

Cowboy Cal Awarded Bryan Station Win

Lexington, Ky. (October 12, 2008)—Cowboy Cal, who has been idle since the Kentucky Derby (G1) in May, was awarded the victory in the $150,000, Grade 3 Bryan Station Stakes Sunday at Keeneland.

Cowboy Cal and jockey John Velazquez finished a neck behind Seaspeak with Kent Desormeaux aboard after the two battled down the stretch of the one- mile turf race timed in 1:35.70.

The stewards immediately posted the “inquiry” sign and after a short deliberation disqualified Seaspeak for lugging in and bumping Cowboy Cal in midstetch.


“My horse (Cowboy Cal) got to the lead and started waiting and when the other horse came to him, he started fighting right back,” said Velazquez. “He put his head in front of the other horse, and the other horse started leaning on him and kind of took him off balance down the lane.”

Cowboy Cal, who is owned by Robert and Janice McNair, won for the fourth time in eighth career starts and increased his lifetime earnings to $407,708 with the winner’s purse of $93,000. He is trained by Todd Pletcher.

Deal Making finished third, 3 ¼ lengths behind Cowboy Cal. It was another length back to fourth-place Big Stick in the field of 11 3-year-olds. Stormy Ballad was scratched.

Cowboy Cal finished ninth in the Derby after finishing second, a neck behind Monba, in Keeneland’s Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) in April. The son of Giant’s Causeway won the Tropical Park Derby (G3) on turf earlier this year.

The winner paid $5.60 as the 9-5 favorite.

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