INGLEWOOD, Calif. (May 17, 2008) - Polonius assumed command from the start and held off a determined bid by Indian Sun in the stretch to win Saturday's $106,800 Will Rogers Stakes by a half-length under jockey Jon Court.
The victory was the third in five starts for the Florida-bred, whom trainer Michael Pender shifted back to turf following a ninth-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby.
Polonius, purchased by B.J. Wright for $150,000 in March of 2007, covered one mile on the Lakeside Turf Course in 1:34.95 to register his first graded stakes win in a field of five 3-year-olds.
The winner's circle celebration was delayed when jockey Corey Nakatani claimed the winner had interfered with his mount and eventual third-place finisher Ez Dreamer in the stretch, but the stewards ruled the incident did not alter the order of finish.
"I was clear of that other horse when I came over, that's all there was to it," Court said. "He likes to be in front. I don't think he necessarily has to be in front, but that's his preference."
Polonius, who has run on turf in four of five starts, paid $5.40, $3 and $2.10 as the 8-5 favorite. Indian Sun, ridden by Richard Migliore, returned $3.20 and $2.20. The show payoff on Ez Dreamer was $3.
Polonius broke his maiden while making his first career start on the Lakeside Turf Course last July.
"I think he kind of redeemed himself today," Pender said. "He doesn't really appreciate the synthetic surface, nothing against synthetic surfaces, but some horses handle it better than others. He's one that definitely likes the grass."
Polonius earned $64,080, boosting his earnings to $143,100.
"Our horse has never had to work that hard to get it, but I do believe if they had gone around again they still wouldn't have got him," Pender said.
In the $81,300 Desert Stormer Handicap, meanwhile, Joe Talamo rode Ashley's Kitty to a half-length victory over Overly Tempting as favorite Dearest Trickski had her winning streak end at five with a fourth-place finish.
She covered six furlongs in 1:09.01 under 118 pounds.
"The race went exactly as we thought it would," Talamo said. "We thought the two speed horses (Dearest Trickski and Overly Tempting) would go out there and then adding a third speed horse (Prime Catch) made me smile even more. I had so much horse and I thank God Ted West put me back on. She was doing things so easily, it was just a matter of getting there."
Ashley's Kitty, owned by Oak West Farm and trained by Ted H. West, won the Railbird here last summer with Talamo up. He rode the Kentucky-bred daughter to a fifth-place finish in the Hollywood Oaks one start later, but had not been aboard in her in her six previous starts.
"I thought he had her in the perfect spot," West said. "He made a mild move around the turn and then he let her loose at the top of the stretch. She's a filly that really has a lot of heart and she definitely showed that today. Last year when she ran the Railbird Stakes, she ran about the same race. It looked like she wasn't going to get up, but then she gutted them out the last sixteenth."
Ashley's Kitty won for the fifth time in 11 starts, raising her earnings to $237,038 with the winner's share of $46,080. She paid $9.80, $4 and $3.60 as the third choice in the field of six fillies and mares. Overly Tempting returned $3.60 and $3.40, while the show payoff on Fleetheart was $5.
Dearest Trickski, unbeaten in five starts since being claimed by Tom Mankiewicz for $32,000 last August at Del Mar, weakened in the stretch under high weight of 123 pounds while making her first start since January.
"The idea was to just see how the break was," jockey Michael Baze said. "If she broke clean, go ahead and let her go and if someone wanted to let 'em roll, just follow them. It just wasn't her today. She might have needed the race because she didn't break quite as good as she usually does."
Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally had no luck with Batallosa in the Desert Stormer, but he saddled two winners, including 60-1 shot Quiet Warrior in the ninth race, helping set up a Pick Six carryover of $135,297.
