(from Calder report)
Graded stakes winners Can’t Beat It and Outperformance will likely vie for the favorite’s role in an overflow field of 16 entered for the Pete Axthelm Stakes at Calder Race course Saturday.
The Pete Axthelm, a 7 1/2-furlong test for 3-year-olds on the turf, is one of four hundred granders on Calder’s Grand Slam III program. Only 12 can start.
Live Oak Plantation’s Can’t Beat It, with regular rider Eddie Castro aboard, is a Kentucky homebred son of Atticus trained by Marty Wolfson. Can’t Beat It scored his biggest victory winning the Calder Derby (gr. IIIT) on Oct. 14 by 3 1⁄4 lengths. He just missed when second by a half-length in the American Derby (gr. IIT) at Arlington Park on July 22 in his previous start.
Last out, Can’t Beat It finished a close-up sixth in the Tropical Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) against older horses on Dec. 2, a slow-paced race that worked against his stretch-running style. He was beaten 2 1⁄2 lengths for it all by Ballast.
Klaravich Stable’s Outperformance, to be ridden by Javier Castellano, earned his graded stakes credentials by winning the Hill Prince Stakes (gr. IIIT) going a mile on a soft turf at Belmont Park in early June. Trained by Richard Violette, Jr., the son of Aptitude was never a factor when 13th of 14 behind Can’t Beat It in the American Derby in July, but came out of the race with a serious lung infection.
Outperformance was purchased for $240,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic 2-Year-Olds Sale last year. He bounced back from the Arlington race with three good efforts. He finished second in the Jamaica Breeders’ Cup (gr. IIT) behind division leader Showing Up at Belmont in October and a close-up fourth with plenty of trouble in the Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 11, beaten only a half-length for it all.
Click link below to view Official Entries for the Pete Axthelm Stakes from Equibase Company:
