Horse Racing News and Analysis: Native Diver Handicap Results
by Patricia Woo | Dec 14 2009
Even without highly regarded Lava Man in the lineup, the group that went to post in the
$100,000 Native Diver Handicap on Saturday, Dec. 12 at
Hollywood Park put on a thrilling race. The Gr. 3 race for 3-year-olds and up was run at 1 1/8 miles and featured Mast Track - a 5-year-old gelding who had gone over a year without a victory - finally breaking through with a winning performance.
The Grade 1-winning Lava Man had been slated to make his return to racing in the Native Diver; he had been retired in July due to chronic ankle injuries but had responded well to treatments and had re-entered training. But due to the rain, the 8-year-old was scratched. Instead, trainer Doug O'Neill has indicated his charge could show up in the $150,000 San Gabriel Handicap at Santa Anita on Dec. 27.
So it was a group of five - Mast Track, Square Eddie, Tres Borrachos, High Court Drama and Neko Bay - who started in the Native Diver, with Tres Borrachos (with Victor Espinoza aboard) and Mast Track (with Rafael Bejarano aboard) making good use of their early speed to set the pace. Mast Track emerged with the lead going into the first turn, with Tres Borrachos in close pursuit; Square Eddie, High Court Drama and Neko Bay trailed.
"When he's on the lead he's got more heart than when he comes from behind," Bejarano observed, who won this race last year with Slew's Tizzy. Mast Track made the most of his frontrunning style and began to pull away in the turn for a 1 1/2-length victory. His winning time over the Cushion Track surface was 1:50.53. And while Tres Borrachos faded in the final furlong, High Court Drama and Neko Bay - the race favorite - rallied for second and third, respectively. Tres Borrachos and Square Eddie rounded out the rest of the field.
Mast Track, a son of Mizzen Mast, was owned and trained by the late Bobby Frankel, who passed away in November; he is now trained by Humberto Ascanio and owned by Frank Stronach. The 5-year-old gelding had been winless since June 2008, when he won the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park; he is now 7-1-2-0 on the year.
Irish-bred High Court Drama, ridden by Michael Baze and trained by O'Neill, came into the Native Diver off an allowance race win at Hollywood Park on Nov. 15, his first try on a North American track; he is now 5-1-2-0 on the year with $58,208 in earnings. Neko Bay is a son of Giant's Causeway and last came in sixth in the
Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7; the John Shirreffs trainee has improved to 3-1-0-1 and $44,400 in earnings.
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