IRON MAN CAL - Benoit Photo
The Pat O’Brien was a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile to be run at Keeneland on October 31st. Iron Man Cal went straight to the lead and never gave it up, wiring the field and holding off the late surge of Moonlight and Big City Lights.
“I told Joel (Rosario) to break him like you’re going to come running,” trainer Phil D’Amato said afterward. “If you’re on the lead and no one wants it, go with it. Otherwise, sit second or third or fourth. He broke running and went with it.”
Iron Man Cal lost a shoe in the paddock prior to the race and delayed the start by about ten minutes.
“We had to put it back on,” D’Amato says of the shoe incident. “We got the job done and it worked out well.”
The son of Collected was runner-up in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar but recently D’Amato moved him to the dirt. In his first race on the new surface he finished third behind Journalism in the G2 San Diego. D’Amato shortened him up to seven furlongs in the Pat O’Brien.
“I think his style of running fits the dirt better and it’s worked out,” D’Amato claims. “He has steady speed and he doesn’t have to quicken as much on the dirt. When you’re on the grass you have to show more of a turn of foot.”
D’Amato says Iron Man Cal came back in good order and will train up to the Breeders’ Cup.
“Probably, I think that’s the safest bet,” D’Amato insists. “Just keep him happy and healthy. He ran two races here so we’ll have him fresh and ready to run his best race at Keeneland.”
Edited Press Release DEL MAR
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