Saturday, November 07, 2009
Spendthrift’s star 4-year-old Crown of Thorns once again showed his
quality, making his in third start off a layoff and closing furiously
late to finish a game second in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint
(G1) on Nov. 7th at Santa Anita.
The imposing son of Repent was
elected to the Sprint over the Dirt Mile earlier in the week, and that
decision appeared to pay dividends as he rallied strongly to cause a
photo finish at the wire of the prestigious six-furlong event. After
the decision came down from the placing judges, Crown of Thorns fell
just a nose short despite galloping out past all of his rivals. The
effort comes fresh off an impressive runner-up finish in the Ancient
Title (G1) last month at Santa Anita, leaving immense promise for the
talented colt heading into his 5-year-old campaign in 2010.
Crown
of Thorns is trained by Richard Mandella, and the colt hails from the
Thunder Gulch mare Crowning Touch. A Grade 2 winner of the Robert Lewis
S. at three, he owns a record of 2-2-1 from six starts with earnings of
$577,080.