Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait may be winless in two 2021 starts, but he surely has earned an "A" for effort.
Running in a pair of grade 1 stakes, the homebred son of Midnight Lute turned in two stellar performances for trainer Michael McCarthy.
In the March 6 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T), Smooth Like Strait pressed the pace and wound up second, falling short by a neck.
Then, in the May 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs, Smooth Like Strait stretched out to 1 1/8-miles and once again turned in a great effort, setting the pace and battling to the very end before finishing third, just a neck behind Colonel Liam and Domestic Spending who finished in a dead-heat for the win.
Off those two gallant tries, Smooth Like Strait will attempt to turn those narrow losses into an initial grade 1 win May 31 as he returns to an eight-furlong distance in the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile Stakes (G1T) at Santa Anita Park, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T).
"The (Turf Classic) shows he belongs with the best turf horses. We have a solid group of turf horses stateside," McCarthy said. "He's coming into this race in good form and it should be a springboard to bigger and better things in the summer."
With travel issues keeping away horses based in the East, the Shoemaker attracted a field of seven with a pace scenario that should benefit Smooth Like Strait. Aside from McCarthy's 4-year-old, the other entrant with a strong burst of early speed was Raymundos Secret , but the 5-year-old mare will be scratched.
"There doesn't appear to be a lot of speed on paper and a soft pace will help him," McCarthy said. "I think the mile and mile-and-an-eighth seems to be the sweet spot for him. He's not pigeon-holed to a mile."
A multiple grade 2 winner, Smooth Like Strait owns a record of six wins from 14 starts with three seconds and two thirds for earnings of $753,823.
The most dangerous rival appears to be Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm's Say the Word .
An Ontario-bred son of More Than Ready , Say the Word is a grade 1 winner for trainer Phil D'Amato that has done his best running at distances longer than a mile. That grade 1 win came last fall in the Northern Dancer Stakes Presented by Pattison (G1T) at 1 1/2 miles and in his last start he rallied from fifth to win the April 17 Elkhorn Stakes (G2T) at the same 12-furlong distance over Keeneland's turf course.
In his last seven starts, the highly consistent Say the Word has three wins, a second, and two thirds with the lone unplaced finish being an 11th in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T).
Among the others, Whisper Not will be seeking a third straight win after taking the San Francisco Mile Stakes (G3T) at Golden Gate Fields for trainer Richard Baltas and owners Electric City Racing, Madaket Stables, Christopher Dunn, and Jeremy Peskoff.
The field also includes Restrainedvengence , who was third in the San Francisco Mile; Crossfirehurricane , a group 3 winner in Ireland making his United States debut for McCarthy; and grade 1 winner Next Shares , who was second in last year's Shoemaker and third in the 2018 edition but is winless in his last 10 starts for Baltas.
"We're looking forward to getting him started," McCarthy said about Crossfirehurricane. "He'll be coming from out of it, but he has big credentials."
Entries: Shoemaker Mile S. (G1T)
Santa Anita Park, Monday, May 31, 2021, Race 7
- Grade IT
- 1m
- Turf
- $300,000
- 3 yo's & up
- 4:18 PM (local)
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