Chelsea Durand Photo

Catholic Boy rallies late to win G3 Pennine Ridge

by Anthony Affrunti

Saturday's running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park came down to a thrilling stretch duel in which it appeared the strong-closing Analyze It was on his way to perfection through four starts, but Catholic Boy found another gear when guided to the outside to win the race by neck.

His winning time was 1:45.78 on the inner turf.

"He's been nothing but reliable," trainer Jonathan Thomas said of Catholic Boy. "We have asked him a lot of questions. I'm proud of his effort and his tenacity. We came into the race thinking we were going to finish second, and we were going to be happy with that. But this horse wants more ground. He just wants more ground on the turf."

The son of More Than Ready was sent to the lead down the backside with 1-5 favorite Analyze It and jockey Jose Ortiz in pursuit, 2 ½ lengths behind. Catholic Boy guided the field of five through an opening quarter in 23.71 seconds, a half-mile in 47.76 and three-quarters of a mile in 1:10.17 while Analyze It was beginning to find his best stride.

Analyze It, coming off a 5 ¼-length winning effort in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland last out, took over, but jockey Javier Castellano switched Catholic Boy to the outside and re-took the lead in the final 70 yards to win. Contact was made between both atop the stretch drive, but a claim of foul by Ortiz, and a stewards' inquiry were disallowed.

"My horse has such a good heart," Castellano said following the race. "You don't see too many horses like that when you check at the top of the stretch and they come back and win the race, especially at a mile and an eighth. I give a lot of credit to the horse and trainer. I didn't think he would win. [After checking] I was just riding for second place, but Analyze It started to stop and my horse continued, continued, continued. I thought 'I'm not going to win the race,' but it worked out great."

Making his third start of the year in the Pennine Ridge, Catholic Boy previously finished second in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on the dirt.

Catholic Boy 's last start on grass came in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on November 3 where he settled for a close fourth behind winner Mendelssohn. Thomas opted to try the main track at Aqueduct Race Track and the Grade 2 Remsen as his last start of his 2-year-old year, and his colt responded with a 4 ¾ length victory, his second graded stakes win along with the Grade 3 With Anticipation on the turf at Saratoga Race Course.

"I think you have to keep [the Grade 1, $1.2 million Belmont Derby Invitational on July 7] in consideration, absolutely," said Thomas. "It's a great addition to the racing scene. Essentially, it's a turf classic, so to speak. Honestly, it was kind of on our radar screen when he as a 2-year-old, but the Remsen kind of muddled things up a little."

Channel Cat claimed third, 4 ¼ lengths behind Analyze It, and it was another 2 ¼ lengths back to Untamed Domain. Irish Territory rounded out the order of finish.

A $2 win wager on Catholic Boy returned $10.80.