Mondego takes G2 win for McMcarthy, Benoit Photo
Santa Anita Park Press
ARCADIA, CA—After being limited to minor awards in four consecutive stakes categories, Mondeo scored a breakthrough victory for trainer Michael McCarthy on Saturday in the Grade III, $100,000 San Marcos Stakes for seniors going 1 and 1/4 miles on grass at Santa Anita.
With Emisael Jaramillo on board for the first time, Mondego enjoyed an ideal journey, maintaining the pace while saving ground on the track. Mondego was waved off for the stretch drive and powered his way forward to triumph by one length over a long shot of 45-1 Most flashy. Real quality (9-2) again finished head back in third place and was followed by Stay warm (5-2).
Class I winner Golden Phoenixthe even-money favourite, never got out of the field in the late hours and finished second to last in his 8-year-old debut.
Mondego won in a time of 2:00.06 after splits of 24.10, 48.11, 1:12.90 and 1:36.45.
“(McCarthy) told me to try to sit in third or fourth position and wait for the play,” Jaramillo said.
McCarthy has won the last three stakes at Santa Anita. On Sunday, McCarthy won both the Las Virgenes Sakes with Meaning and the Clockers’ Corner with yellow card, which also had Jaramillo on board.
“I thought Emisael rode him fantastic today,” McCarthy said. “He trained him this week and I thought the horse did well.”
Mondego, a 6-year-old gelding by Lope de Vega, was bred in England and owned by Cheyenne Stable. He spent his first two years in the east with trainer Christophe Clement. Notably, in 2024, Mondego finished third in the GI Belmont Derby before being sent west to McCarthy. In his previous start, the GIII San Gabriel covering 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on December 28, Mondego rallied in third class under Flavien Prat. Prior to that effort, he finished behind winner Truly Quality in the GII Hollywood Turf Cup and behind winner Gold Phoenix in both the GII Del Mar Handicap and GII John Henry Turf Championship.
“Flavien gets a little bit of credit. He told us something about the horse the other day, and we used it to our advantage today,” McCarthy said. “I kept looking for Gold Phoenix and Truly Quality. We were able to finish at the top of the track and turned out to be the best today.”
Mondego paid $21.20, $9.00 and $5.40. Flashiest, ridden by Armando Ayuso for trainer Leonard Powell, returned $25.60 and $12.40. Truly Quality, with Mike Smith replacing trainer Jonathan Thomas, paid $4.00.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Santa Anita with a nine-race card starting at 12:30 p.m
GRADE III, SAN MARCOS STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
EMISAEL JARAMILLO, MONDEGO, WINNER: “The trainer told me to try to sit in third or fourth position and wait for the stretch.”
TRAINER QUOTES
MICHAEL MCCARTHY, MONDEGO, WINNER: “I thought Emisael rode him fantastic today. He trained him this week and I thought the horse did great. Flavien (Prat) gets a little bit of credit. He recently told us something about the horse and we took advantage of that today. I kept looking for Gold Phoenix (finished seventh) and Truly Quality (finished third). We were able to ride out at the top of the track there and turned out to be the best today.”
NOTES: The winning owner is Cheyenne Stable, LLC.
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