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Lieutenant Dan’s Eddie D. Stakes
RETURN OF THE HILL
LIEUTENANT DAN ON MANEUVERS IN DOWNHILL EDDIE D.
BY TRACY GANTZ
Whether the Eddie D. Stakes (G2T) takes place down Santa Anita’s unique hillside turf course or on the regular grassy oval, Nick Alexander can fnd a way to win with a California homebred. Alexander’s Pee Wee Reese captured the stakes named for the popular Hall of Fame former jockey Eddie Delahoussaye in 2019, when it was fve furlongs. He repeated this year with Lieutenant Dan, with the race returning to its traditional downhill distance of about 61⁄2 furlongs.
© BENOIT PHOTOS
Nick Alexander’s California homebred Lieutenant Dan takes the Eddie D. Stakes on Santa Anita’s downhill turf course
Owner Nick Alexander, fourth left, in the winner’s circle with trainer Steve Miyadi, second right, and other joyful celebrants
“I love that turf course,” Alexander said. “We have always excelled on it, and Grazen babies just seem to love that distance and that downhill. It is so beautiful.”
Pee Wee Reese is by Tribal Rule, and Lieutenant Dan is one of the many stakes winners Alexander has bred by his stallion Grazen. Te sire continues to turn out talented runners, and Lieutenant Dan is a particular favorite of trainer Steve Miyadi.
Lieutenant Dan made his graded stakes debut in the $101,500 Green Flash Handicap (G3T) at Del Mar Aug. 22, winning by 21⁄4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite. He went favored again in the $202,000 Eddie D. Oct. 1 at 5-2 against eight rivals.
Te competition included Snapper Sinclair, a Steve Asmussen trainee coming of a one mile and 70-yard victory in the Sept. 8 TVG Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Trainer Phil D’Amato had the one-two punch of Gregorian Chant and the mare Charmaine’s Mia, both multiple stakes winners at Santa Anita.
Jockey Geovanni Franco broke Lieutenant Dan out of the gate on top, but Charmaine’s Mia and multiple graded winner Law Abidin Citizen did not let him get away. Tose three battled early down the hill.
Lieutenant Dan had the slight edge over the mare as they crossed the dirt. Te Cal-bred opened up on Charmaine’s Mia, but he wasn’t out of danger. Several closers tried to catch him, and he held them of to score by a half-length in 1:11.74. Snapper Sinclair fnished second, with Chaos Teory third.
“I don’t feel he’s a real miler against top horses, and I consider the 61⁄2 furlongs a mile so I was worried about that,” said Miyadi. “It’s fantastic to run down that hill and to win.”
Franco called Lieutenant Dan fast and versatile.
“He broke sharp like he always does and put me in a nice spot,” the jockey said. “All in all, he was the one taking me through the trip.”
Te race occurred on the opening day of Santa Anita’s fall meeting, along with several other stakes used as preps for the Breeders’ Cup. Alexander said that Lieutenant Dan had earned his way into being supplemented, with the possibility of running in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) Nov. 6 over the same course and distance at Del Mar where he won the Green Flash. Lieutenant Dan won the 2019 Echo Eddie Stakes and Real Good Deal Stakes on dirt and the 2020 Sensational Star Stakes on turf. Alexander bred him from the stakes-winning Indian Charlie mare Excusabull, whose other winners include six-fgure earners Hunger and Joe Jackson, both Cal-breds.
