Kat Takes Second in the Slop

It’s not often that you’ll hear me say that I was satisfied with a second place finish, but E Sveikata’s race yesterday was one of those times.

Kat broke a step slow.  In fact it appeared that she hopped a bit at the start and she immediately spotted the field about two lengths in the 5 ½ furlong race at Calder (see it here).  Jockey Eduardo Nunez hustled her up into contention heading into the turn where she had to steady slightly as she came up against a wall of horses.  As a result she had to settle back a little bit again and bide her time through the turn and well into the stretch before things started to open up a bit.  By that point highly regarded first timer Esperanza Latina had the race well under control.  Kat, tiring less than the rest of the field, finished strongly for second over the sloppy race track.

Overcoming the sloppy going, being penned in on the rail, hopping at the start and being steadied to only finish 3 ¾ lengths back was mighty impressive to me for a second time starter.  The company certainly wasn’t too tough and we learned she can handle the sloppy going.  In fact, it looks like having her stretch out a bit won’t be an issue either.  Maybe not right now, obviously, but in the future.  It could be that we have seen her style – a bit slow to start and then finishing strongly.  This is unlike her mom, My Philly, but very much like her big sis, Tabby Lane.  The fact that she had to take back and then was able to come again was also very impressive.  There were several points in the race, including the start, where she could have given up and she didn’t it.

We’ll see how she comes back and then we’ll plot the next race.  My guess is that we’ll be back in with the same but with a couple of races under her belt as well as some confidence.  She’s going to be tough to beat!