The synthetic surface of Golden Gate for the El Camino Real showed little pace on paper. The El Camino betting played out with Conquest Typhoon opening as the 6/5 favorite. Going into the gate at 9/5. Mischief Clem was the surprising 2nd favorite at 4/1. Four Hall of Fame Jockeys made this a memorable El Camino Real. Kent Desormeaux, Mike Smith, Alex Solis and Russell Baze.
Indianaughty opted to take the lead out of the gate, slowing down the fractions of 25 and 1 and 49 and 1 for the half mile. The 6 furlong mark slow as well with 1:14 on the timer. Indianaughty was contesting the pace with a 3-wide Conquest Typhoon. This was not the ideal running position for Indianaughty, especially after shipping from Gulfstream. Overall Indianaughty ran well but this was not a trip that he could run his best race.
Coming into the stretch the contested pace set the race up for a closer with Conquest Typhoon, Indianaughty, and Ernest Shackleton all contesting for the lead.
Metaboss came home the final 3 furlongs in under 36 seconds his 2nd straight finish with a strong closing kick. In his most recent race he looked beaten before motoring home the final 1/8th in 11 and 1/5. Metaboss was near the back of the, but when 7 horses fanned out across the track Metaboss was unblocked and showed the quickest turn of foot, he exploded when clear and finished in hand. The gallop-out was light but he ran a hard quarter of mile and final 1/8th was in full stride.
Cross the Line finished second benefitting from a well time ground saving ride. Conquest Typhoon had a 3rd place finish, but received a strange ride. The 3 wide trip on the backstretch and move into the stretch while contesting the pace was a no win scenario. This was also done off the layoff. But his pedigree is light for 9 furlongs and he was out finished by International Star as a 2-year-old.
Looking ahead Metaboss mostly likely goes to the Spiral Stakes where he fits class and distance wise, but that race will most likely have a full field and The Great War waiting for him.
Cross the Line is getting better and I feel he may like dirt more than synthetic. Conquest Typhoon is a Turf horse and most likely a G3 horse at that, think he goes off the trail and concentrates on turf.