The Rodeo Drive was one of the more oddly run races on the Santa Anita card on Saturday. Typically, turf races at a distance of a mile and a quarter or longer will have a somewhat moderate pace. Most horses in America aren’t bred to go a mile and a quarter which makes saving energy in the early stages crucial to success. For whatever reason, neither Let’s Go Cheyenne nor Vivo Per Lei got the message in the Rodeo Drive.
2012 Rodeo Drive Stakes: Marketing Mix Wins Over Nereid (Video)
Breaking from the gate an the bottom part of the downhill turf course at Santa Anita, Let’s Go Cheyenne and Vivo Per Lei sprinted to the front of the field, leading by over ten lengths at the half mile mark and running the opening six furlongs in an incredible 1:09.62. To put that in perspective, sprinters at Santa Anita (horses that only run six furlongs), run their entire race in around 1:09 or 1:10. The leaders of the Rodeo Drive put up those fractions and still had a half mile to run. Not surprisingly, both of the leaders were out of gas by the time they left the far turn, finishing well back of the winner.
Marketing Mix, sent to post at odds of even money, was content to sit off the suicidal pace and make her move coming into the top of the lane. She encountered little resistance from any of her rivals and score by an easy two and a quarter lengths at the wire.
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