Mansetti rebounds, wins Clarendon for first stakes trophy
TORONTO, November 24, 2024 – Mansetti, trained by Kevin Attard, is back on the winning track after taking the $150,000 Clarendon Stakes, Sunday at Woodbine.
Sent off as the 9-2 third choice of six in the six-furlong event for Ontario bred or Ontario sired 2-year-olds, Mansetti, with Leo Salles aboard, was on a mission to reach the front after being engaged to his inside by Dark Screen and outside by the filly Patriotic War soon after the gates opened.
Mansetti held a head advantage over Dark Screen through an opening quarter in :22.37, with Patriotic War nestled into third spot.
The lead pair then accelerated away from the pack, with Mansetti letting it out a notch to lead by 1 ½ lengths after a half in :44.91.
After putting away his rival mid-turn, the son of Collected out of the Sky Mesa mare Gidget Girl braced for the challenges of closers Call Me Sue and Awesome Beat.
On top by 3 ½ lengths at the stretch call, Mansetti drifted out a bit in the late running, but reached the line 1 ¼ lengths in front of Call Me Sue, who was further 1 ¼ lengths ahead of Awesome Beat. Patriotic War was fourth.
The final time was 1:10.81.
“I knew with the blinkers he’d be a little bit speedier today,” said Attard. “I was concerned that on paper there looked like some other speed, and when the one horse (Dark Screen) shot up there, and the two of them were kind of throwing it down and opening up on the field, you always get concerned. But the horse was good enough to hang on and kind of repel the challenges, and I thought Leo just rode a smart race.”
Attard, who recently sent out his 5,000th lifetime starter, was pleased to see the bay colt, owned by Al and Bill Ulwelling, come back from a flat sixth in his last start, the seven-furlong main track Display Stakes, on Oct. 13.
"I was disappointed in his last performance. Maybe we kind of rushed him back in that second start. But, you know, he came into this race and prepped really well. His last work, we put blinkers on, had Leo come in and get on him and I thought he worked sensational that day.”
Mansetti won at first asking on Sept. 26 at Woodbine. After dueling early in the six-furlong main track maiden special weight race, he went on to record a 1 ¼-length score in 1:11.49.
The rookie is now 2-0-0 from 3 starts.
“He’s still lightly raced,” noted Attard. “We might give him another start south of the border and try him out on the dirt, maybe, and see how he handles that, and we’ll go from there."
A $40,000 purchase (Hip No. 48) at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-olds In Training, Mansetti, bred by Jungle Racing, LLC, is named after a popular pizza and pasta restaurant in the Ulwellings’ home state of Minnesota.
He paid $11.60 for today’s win.
Chris Lomon, Woodbine
