Betting The Horses

Caracortado is a 3-year old gelding bred, owned, and trained by Mike Machowsky.  His name – Spanish for “Scarface” – was given to him as a result of an injury the horse sustained while he was training.  “He must have cut himself on a fence or in his stall or something, like young horses can do,” Machowsky said in a recent teleconference.

Caracortado is a California-bred gelding who has a modest pedigree.  He is of the second crop of $1,500 sire Cat Dreams.  He is the most successful of his sire’s progeny so far, going undefeated in his first five races and became a probable in lines.

The greatest of his first five wins was his first-place finish at the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on February 13.  He upset Tiz Chrome and American Lion, the two favorites in the race.  He spent the first part of the race comfortably racing in third place behind the two favorites before making his move near the end, winning the race by 1 ¾ lengths.

On March 13, Caracortado’s winning streak came to an end at the San Felipe Stakes.   Caracortado finished two lengths behind Sidney’s Candy, good enough for third place.  Sidney’s Candy led the race wire-to-wire.

On Saturday, April 3, Caracortado would again lose to Sidney’s Candy, this time at the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.  Caracortado was the victim of bad luck during the race.  Jockey Paul Atkinson,had to slam on the brakes on the far turn while following Kentucky Derby Betting favorite Lookin At Lucky. Atkinson thought Lookin At Lucky was going to fall.  Despite the setback, Caracortado was able to finish in fourth place.

Despite Caracortado’s strong start, he appears to be on the bubble for the Kentucky Derby.  He went into the Santa Anita Derby with $108,000 in career earnings and the Derby cutoff will likely be about $200,000.  He would have needed to finish in at least second at the Santa Anita Derby to reach that figure.