Lentenor , full brother to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, overtook Beckham Bend to post a 1 ½ length victory in a 1 1/16 mile allowance/optional claiming race at Tampa Bay Downs Dec. 23.
Lentenor, a 4-year-old campaigned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson in the name of their Lael Stables, covered the distance on turf in 1:40.95 under jockey Luis Garcia. Lentenor, trained by Leigh Delacour, paid $7.60 as the slight betting favorite in the $32,000 allowance/optional claiming race. Blazen finished third and Presumptive fourth in the 10-horse field. “Everything came out perfect,” said Garcia.
“He got a clean trip and we got him to do what we wanted. He was just cruising, cruising, cruising, then I asked him at the end and he did it. I knew I had the horse so I was really just the passenger. He is a nice, nice horse.”
Lentenor, the 2010 Florida Derby (gr. I) fourth-place finisher, won for the third time in 12 career starts. All of his victories are on the turf. It was the first start since Oct. 9 at Keeneland for Lentenor, who last won July 31 at Parx Racing in a conditional allowance race.
“We entered him at Laurel before we came here but the race was off the turf and we scratched him, so this horse has been ready to run for more than a month,” Delacour said. “I think Luis rode a superb tactical race. Congratulations to the Jacksons for being very patient with this horse. All the parts came together today.”
Delacour said she expects the son of Dynaformer-La Ville Rouge to stay on the turf for the foreseeable future. “We tried him once this summer on dirt and he ran evenly, and you see today he finished his race well. When you see a horse show that turn of foot on the turf, it behooves you to keep him there.”
