Katonah Comes From Last to Win San Pasqual

On a weekend when Doug O'Neill's stable was spread around the world, 6-year-old Katonah captured the San Pasqual Stakes (G2) at O'Neill's Santa Anita Park base. O'Neill was in Saudi Arabia, said his nephew, Shane O'Neill, and the trainer also had horses running in Florida and Kentucky. Katonah represented the home team well against a group that included two-time San Pasqual winner Express Train and 4-year-old graded winner Imagination, the 7-10 favorite from Bob Baffert's barn. Though he hadn't won in a year and a half, Katonah in five subsequent starts had finished second in the 2024 San Diego Handicap (G2) and ran fifth in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) after a wide trip. He went off as the 11-2 third choice in the 1 1/8-mile San Pasqual. When the field broke from the gate, Katonah brushed with Express Train and trailed the field early. Midnight Mammoth, Tarantino, and Imagination vied for the lead, with Midnight Mammoth responsible for fractions of :22.10 for a quarter-mile and :45.84 for a half-mile. Jockey Tiago Pereira was unconcerned with Katonah's early position. "I saw the form and there were a few horses with speed," he said. "I didn't care if I was six lengths, eight lengths behind." Longshot Dont Fight the Fed sustained an injury and fell at the three-eighths pole. Katonah was able to alter course to safely avoid Dont Fight the Fed and swung two-wide into the stretch while passing other rivals. Express Train loomed up on the outside of the leaders in the second turn. He and Imagination each took the lead briefly, and in the stretch they battled with Tarantino. Katonah surged up outside of those three, pulling away to score by two lengths in 1:51.36. Express Train finished second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Tarantino, with Imagination another nose back in fourth. Frankie Dettori had ridden Katonah in the Breeders' Cup and in the Dec. 26 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes (G2). In the latter, Katonah had run sixth with blinkers. "Last time, Frankie said he did not like the blinkers," Shane O'Neill said. "He was totally unengaged, shied away from the field, and was kind of running his own race. So we pulled them off today, and obviously he was much more engaged. They also went :22 flat, so I think the race couldn't set up better for anyone other than us." Pereira had ridden Katonah several times before, including when the gelding won his first stakes, the 2023 Pleasanton Mile Stakes. "We're very appreciative of Tiago, who obviously knows this horse really well," said Shane. "He loves this horse. Their connection is pretty strong, so we're really happy Tiago got to ride him back." Katonah races for Ron Arakelian III's R3 Racing. He and Doug O'Neill claimed Katonah for $50,000 out of a race at Del Mar Nov. 25, 2021. Haymarket Farm bred Katonah in Kentucky from the winning Consolidator mare Ctimene. The mare is a half sister to stakes winners Odysseus and Once Around. Katonah, at age 6, is from the first crop of Klimt, who entered stud in 2018 in Kentucky but was sold to the Jockey Club of Turkey for the 2022 breeding season.