SOUTHWEST STAKES: New racing surface to My Boy Jack’s liking

Jockey Kent Desormeaux guides My Boy Jack across the wire to win the $500,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes in 1:46.00 on Monday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
Jockey Kent Desormeaux guides My Boy Jack across the wire to win the $500,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes in 1:46.00 on Monday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.

HOT SPRINGS -- A switch from turf to dirt paid off in a big way.

My Boy Jack ran his final six races as a 2-year-old on turf. In two Grade III races on dirt this year, he finished third in the Sham Stakes at California's Santa Anita Park, and as an estimated crowd of 20,500 watched, he won the $500,000 1 1/16-mile Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Monday.

My Boy Jack, by Creative Cause, took the lead in the field of 10 near the head of the stretch and pulled away from a jumble of contenders to win by 4½ lengths over Combatant, who finished 2½ lengths in front of third-place Sporting Chance. Mourinho, the 6-5 favorite and winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn on Jan. 15, finished fourth, a neck behind Sporting Chance.

The victory earned My Boy Jack $300,000 and 10 of the 17 points available from the Southwest on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Jockey Kent Desormeaux said 20 minutes after the race that he was impressed in the summer and early fall by My Boy Jack's dirt efforts in training.

"He works like a star on the dirt," Desormeaux said. "Every time he breezes in the morning, he outworks everybody."

Keith Desormeaux, Kent Desormeaux's brother and My Boy Jack's trainer, said he noticed, too.

"I told Kent this horse would run well on dirt," Keith Desormeaux said. "I couldn't wait to try him on it."

Mourinho, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, led through the first quarter mile in 23.46, the half in 47.70, and three-quarters in 1:13.56 on the muddy track, soaked from a weekend of rain.

As My Boy Jack turned for home, Kent Desormeaux guided him along the rail past Mourinho.

"When I asked him to go, he exploded," Desormeaux said. "He was absolutely powering to the wire. He gave me a brilliant ride. He was very, very attentive to his jockey. Everything worked out as we hoped."

Sporting Chance, with Luis Saez on board, and Combatant, ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., collided near the 1/8th pole. Combatant continued to rally and passed Mourinho before the 1/16th pole. Sporting Chance hesitated after the contact but recovered to pass Mourinho near the wire.

Combatant trainer Steve Asmussen and Sporting Chance trainer D. Wayne Lukas seemed pleased by the result.

"Combatant ran solid," Asmussen said.

Combatant, by Scat Daddy, also finished second in the Smarty Jones.

"I'm very pleased with Sporting Chance's effort," Lukas said. "Very pleased. We'll build off of that."

"He kept coming after that contact," Saez said. "He never quit trying. He's a nice horse."

The race was the first for Sporting Chance around two turns and since Sept. 4, when he won the Grade I Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

In that race, Sporting Chance, by Tiznow, recovered from a sharp bolt to his right near the wire to hold off the other 2-year-olds in the field. His misstep was excused by Lukas as perhaps no more than a byproduct of immaturity, and he had shown no significant hints of misbehavior through his first two races -- 5½-furlong maiden events earlier in the summer at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and Saratoga.

Lukas said an unfamiliar tap of the whip by Saez might have caused the bolt to the right. He has since added a shadow roll to the noseband of Sporting Chance's bridle with the hope it would help lower the colt's head to restrict vision and consequently improve his focus. There was no similar trouble for Sporting Chance in the Southwest.

"This was nothing in this race like what happened there," Lukas said. "Those horses came over, and it definitely broke his stride and his momentum, but he was running well. The nice thing is, he took that hit and then tried to run again. I think his upside is great."

"He's going to run big in the next one, definitely," Saez said. "He needed this one, but he's a good horse. He can be a great one. Today he proved it."

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THE SENTINEL-RECORD

Jockey Kent Desormeaux celebrates aboard My Boy Jack after winning the Southwest Stakes on Monday.

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THE SENTINEL-RECORD

Kent Desormeaux and My Boy Jack draw clear of Combatant while winning the $500,000 Southwest Stakes on Monday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs

Sports on 02/20/2018

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