It took every inch of the 1 3/4-mile distance, but Planetario got up in time to repeat in the $100,000 San Juan Capistrano Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park June 16 while breaking his own track record.
Settling in the back of the field of six, jockey Hector Berrios carved out a ground-saving trip along the rail throughout the majority of the turf marathon.
The pace was persistent for the distance as Rimprotector opened with a :24.41 opening quarter-mile before Bee Catcher took over and clocked fractions of :48.35, 1:12.67, 1:39.47, and 2:06.04.
As the field bunched together on the backstretch, Rockemperor loomed a threat on the outside and kept Planetario locked to the rail. Swinging into the stretch, Rockemperor surged forward, but once Planetario got clear on the outside the motor engaged and it was a race to the finish. Planetario ran down his rival to win by a long neck. Rimprotector was third.
Stopping the clock in 2:46.95, Planetario topped his own track record, which he set in last year's Capistrano, of 2:48.08, paying $3.40 to win as the favorite.
A two-time grade 1 winner in his native Brazil, Planetario's record-setting Capistrano was a third graded stakes victory in the United States for the 6-year-old son of Il Doge.
A homebred for Red Rafa Stud trained by Richard Mandella, Planetario is now 8-3-1 from 19 starts for earnings of $390,548.
