Grade II winner Atta Boy Roy , one of the fastest Thoroughbreds in Washington state history, capped a brilliant career with a runner-up finish Feb. 1 in the Swift Stakes at Turf Paradise in Phoenix (VIDEO) .
Atta Boy Roy and jockey Daniel Vergara chased Streakin' Mohican ($15.20) from flag-fall to finish but came up 1 1/2 lengths short as the winner covered 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.08 on a fast track. Atta Boy Roy, the 13-10 choice in a field of seven, earned $6,860 and became only the fifth Washington-bred to surpass $600,000 in career earnings with $602,276.
An 8-year-old ridgling, Atta Boy Roy compiled a 14-8-1 record in 36 starts, topped by a gate-to-wire victory in the Churchill Downs Handicap (gr. II) May 1, 2010.
Trained by Valorie Lund and owned by R.E.V. Racing (Roy Schaefer, Port Orchard), Atta Boy Roy also starred at Emerald Downs, where in 2009 he was voted top Washington-bred and top sprinter after winning two stakes and breaking Grey Papa’s 37-year-old state record for six furlongs with a 1:07 clocking in the Chinook Pass Stakes.
Atta Boy Roy, by Tribunal out of Irish Toast by Synastry, will be entering stud in 2013 at Blue Ribbon Farm in Buckley, Wash. He will stand for a fee of $2,000 live foal.
Streakin Mohican, a 6-year-old Florida-bred by Songandaprayer , has 10 wins in 36 starts and earnings of $378,923. Former Emerald Downs jockey Wilson Dieguez rode the gelding.
Absolutely Cool, a Washington-bred also trained by Lund, finished third.
Atta Boy Roy
Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography