NYRA/Susie Raisher
By Sarah Mace
Shipping up from his winter home base in Payson Park and adding blinkers for focus, Governor Malibu (Malibu Moon) became a restricted stakes winner in his sophomore debut at Aqueduct Saturday when he captured the inaugural running of the one mile and 70 yard, $100,000 Gander Stakes.
Trained by Christophe Clement for Jump Sucker Stable and Oak Bluff Stables (Richard Leahy), Governor Malibu opened his account last year with four competitive starts, including a third-place finish to Get Jets in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont on October 24 while still a maiden. His breakthrough first victory came in his final start of 2015, November 14, when he romped by six lengths going a mile in state-bred company on the Aqueduct main track.
At post time Governor Malibu was somewhat neglected at the windows, fourth choice in the salty field of five at odds of 9-2. Partnered with Manny Franco, previously aboard for the Sleepy Hollow, the chestnut colt was comfortably drawn in the outside post.
Off a step behind Sudden Surprise who broke just to his inside, Governor Malibu set up in a stalking position a length off that pacesetter behind easy early fractions of 25.37 and 50:29.
Sudden Surprise and Governor Malibu ran one-two along the backstretch and far turn, and entered the stretch shoulder-to-shoulder. Governor Malibu latched on to Sudden Surprise with three-sixteenths to go but was faced with a tenacious rival.
In the final stages Governor Malibu collared the leader, who appeared to lose steam in the final sixteenth, and drew off to win by 2 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:44.78. The pair were followed across the finish line by 10-1 longshot Taoiseach, 3-2 Vincento, who was wheeling back after a sharp maiden victory on January 21, and Cards of Stone who was extremely hard to handle in the early stages of the race. [VIDEO]
Governor Malibu’s pilot Manny Franco said, “They wanted me close to the leader because we knew there wasn’t much pace in the race, and that’s what we did. The blinkers helped a lot; he put me up there. I didn’t have to use him or anything, he just put me close. He knew what to do.”
Christophe Lorieul, assistant to winning trainer Christophe Clement, followed up with, “I thought there would be a bit more pace coming into the race. When I saw they walked early and he was up front right next to the leader, I thought that was perfect. He was on the outside with momentum and just had to pick it up from there.”
Lorieul added, “Christophe talked to me about this race since early January and he told me ‘I will prep him down in Florida, but I’ll send him to you here for the Gander.’ Most likely he’s going to go back to Florida now. Since his last race, he had been a little bit lazy so we added the blinkers to put him a little bit more in the race and get him a bit closer, especially on the inner track today.”
Foaled at Berkshire Stud in Pine Plains, Governor Malibu is the first foal out of Akilina, an Oak Bluff Stables homebred by Langfuhr who was a multiple stakes winner on turf and graded-placed runner. Oak Bluff Stables purchased Akilina’s dam, the Gulch mare Fahamore, for $37,000 at Keeneland’s 2003 November sale.
Governor Malibu sold as a Keeneland September yearling for $175,000 to Red Wings, before being purchased for $135,000 by Clement at the Fasig-Tipton March two-year-old sale. From two wins, two seconds a third-place finish, the second-generation homebred has earned $149,600.
