El Deal the real deal in G1 Vanderbilt

by Heather Pettinger

Albert and Michelle Crawford's El Deal dominated in his graded stakes debut, wiring the field for an eight-length victory in the Grade 1, $350,000 Vanderbilt Handicap on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, El Deal broke well from the gate and quickly established control, taking the field of 7 through an opening quarter-mile in 22.50 seconds with Green Gratto in pursuit. The Jorge Navarro-trained pacesetter opened up a three-length lead as he cleared the half-mile in 45.28.

Green Gratto gave up his chase and the 5-year-old Munnings horse extended his lead to six at the top of the stretch over 3-2 favorite Limousine Liberal, who raced four-wide through the turn, and El Deal cruised home as the easy victor. Awesome Banner split horses to get up for second, a head in front of Limousine Liberal in third.

Sent off as the 5-2 second-choice, El Deal finished the six-furlong dash in 1:09.26. The winner returned $7.10 for a $2 win wager. 

"He's a fast horse and I took advantage," said Castellano. "Jorge Navarro did a great job. I never rode the horse before. He told me break out of the gate and don't look back. [He said] try to put him in the lead and don't look back and let him roll. That's his style. He's one dimensional. I followed the instructions and just enjoyed the ride."

The win was the third in as many starts since being purchased privately and transferred to Navarro earlier this year, including a front-running three-length win in the Decathlon on June 11 at Monmouth Park. 

El Deal improved his lifetime record to 9-2-1 from 16 starts for career earnings of $505,025, but for Navarro, the victory also offered an invaluable test of his trainee's quality.

"I respect all the horses in the race," he said. "That's why we were here: to see what kind of horse he is. I think I did the right thing by taking him to all those [previous] tracks and prepping him there. I called the owners and said I thought it was time to see what we have and he proved it.

"We're getting ready for the Breeders' Cup and big races at the end of the year, so I wanted owners to have fun," Navarro added. "I called them up and said I thought it was time to see what he's about. I guess he is what he is."

Bird Song, Spartiatis, Ready for Rye and Green Gratto completed the order of finish. A. P. Indian, favored at 5-2 on the morning line, was scratched.