No Denying Smooth Like Strait From Grade 1 Victory In Shoemaker Mile
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Umberto Rispoli and Smooth Like Strait winning the Shoemaker Mile
Although he was pressed hard early, Cannon Thoroughbreds homebred Smooth Like Strait unleashed a devastating turn of foot the final quarter of a mile to take Monday's Grade 1, $300,000 Shoemaker Mile by 1 ½ lengths under Umberto Rispoli, who collected his third win of the day at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Smooth Like Strait, a 4-year-old colt by Midnight Lute, got the mile on grass in 1:34.19.
With the Shoemaker Mile being a Breeders' Cup “Win & You're In” Challenge Race qualifier, Smooth Like Strait will be entitled to an automatic entry to the 2021 Breeders' Cup Mile, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 6.