GIO PONTI (c. 3, Tale of the Cat – Chipeta Springs by Alydar) continues to impress yesterday in the $100,000 G3 Sir Beaufort Stakes* at Santa Anita. Heavy rains Thursday night led to a change of venue for the 1 mile race as it was taken off the turf course and run on the main track’s ProRide surface. This didn’t seem to bother the Castleton Lyons homebred as he stalked the pace from early on sitting in last place 12 lengths behind the leader. With Garrett Gomez in the irons, GIO PONTI made a gorgeous move on the final turn and dodged around his opponents to find the open hole midstretch. He got his spot and drove on to win by 1 1/2 lengths! This is the 5th career win for GIO PONTI and with an affinity for another surface the possibilities for this colt are endless! No word yet on his next start, he is trained by Christophe Clement and is owned by Shane Ryan’s Castleton Lyons.
Life: 9-5-2-0 $820,800
*Due to the change of surface, the race was automatically downgraded to a Listed Stakes.
