Trainer Michael McCarthy entered the March 1 card at Santa Anita Park with a formidable lineup of stakes runners, and he exited with a hat trick of graded victories capped by a rail-skimming triumph by Formidable Man in the $301,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T).
Winner of the Hollywood Derby (G1T) at Del Mar Nov. 30, Formidable Man saw his three-race win streak snapped when shipping to Florida for the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Gulfstream Park. The newly turned 4-year-old set a pressured pace in his first start against elders and faded badly to be last of 12.
"A lot of things got him wound up in Florida," McCarthy said. "Obviously a lot of music, a lot of things going on Pegasus Day. A little bit of sensory overload for him."
The response by McCarthy to relax the City of Light colt in his return home was to remove the blinkers he had worn in all 11 previous career starts, a move Formidable Man seemed to relish.
"He's finishing off his races well enough now that blinkers would make little or no difference anymore," McCarthy said.
That gamble proved correct as Formidable Man was much more relaxed for jockey Umberto Rispoli, allowing the pacesetters to clear in front of him while tucking in on the rail. After Cabo Spirit posted fractions of :23.20 and :47.26, Rispoli found himself three lengths off the lead in fifth.
Being boxed in on the far turn ended up being a blessing in disguise. As they straightened into the stretch and approached the three-sixteenths pole, Air Force Red shifted outward and abandoned the rail position. Rispoli pointed Formidable Man to the opening and the colt accelerated up past dueling leaders Zio Jo and Cabo Spirit, who would respectively finish second and third, to win by a half-length.
The mile was completed in 1:34.57 over firm turf that McCarthy said appeared to be softer than usual. Formidable Man paid $12.20 to win despite being the lone grade 1 winner in the field.
The move up the fence proved the key to victory as closers Almendares and favored Mi Hermano Ramon, who were forced to the outside lanes, only managed fourth and fifth.
"All credit goes to Umberto," McCarthy said. "He was patient, sat a pocket trip, waited for a seam. That's what top riders do."
The result completed a magical day for McCarthy, who won each of the three Santa Anita stakes races in which he entered. Earlier in the card, he won the Buena Vista Stakes (G2T) with Liguria and the San Felipe Stakes (G2) with Journalism, who was also ridden by Rispoli. McCarthy also took the closing race on the card with Phosphorescence.
The second top-level score for Formidable Man was his sixth win overall and pushed his career earnings to $817,425 for owners Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr. Bred in Kentucky by Town and Country Horse Farms, he was purchased for $375,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Formidable Man is the first graded stakes winner this season by Lane's End stallion City of Light, whom McCarthy also trained for the Warrens. He joins champion Fierceness as multiple grade 1 winners sired by the 2018 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and 2019 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) winner, who stands for a $35,000 fee in 2025. Formidable Man is out of the grade 2-winning Silent Name mare Fanticola.
Video
