US G3 Winner for Mastercraftsman
Mastercraftsman enjoyed more success in North America on Friday when Santa Monica (6m Mastercraftsman x Zacchera, by Zamindar) landed her third stateside victory in the $100,000 Grade III Orchid Stakes at Gulfstream.
Trained by Chad Brown, Santa Monica was a short priced favourite and arrived just in time to score a head win in the 1 and 3/8th mile turf contest.
“I didn’t have too many choices by the three-eighths pole,” said winning rider Irad Ortiz Jr.
“Nobody on the inside moved, so I had to keep her outside. I had to move early and wide, but I had the best horse in the race. They were going slow in front, so I knew I had to go early.”
A winner of the Group III Cork Munster Oaks in Ireland in 2017, Santa Monica was sold for 375,000 guineas at the 2017 Tattersalls December Sale and then sent to North America. She has the overall record of five wins and seven placings from 30 starts.
Santa Monica is the best of three winners from Zacchera, a half-sister to Group I winner Sakhee’s Secret.