ARCADIA, Calif. – Sumter won Saturday’s Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes at Santa Anita in his own way.
In the stretch of the turf sprint at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside course, jockey Mike Smith struck Sumter once with his whip, but did not get a favorable response from the 7-year-old gelding.
Smith resorted to hand-riding Sumter in the final furlong. Fortunately for Smith, Sumter had sufficient momentum to maintain a slight lead.
“He did not like it,” Smith said. “I put the crop away and I thought, ‘Hold on.’”
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Sumter ($7.80) won by a nose over 9-1 Quereme Pass, who set the pace and ran a game race. Genius Jimmy closed from fifth to finish third, followed by Sorrento Sky, Gran Oriente, and Seal Team, the 2-1 favorite.
Sumter was timed in 1:12.80 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.
Quereme Pass, a Florida shipper who had his stakes debut on Saturday, set an early pace of 21.96 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.28, leading narrowly over Sumter.
The two were side-by-side when the field crossed from the hillside portion of the course to the main oval. Sumter led by a head over Quereme Pass with a furlong remaining, a narrow margin that did not surprise Smith.
“You’ve got to be careful not to hit the front too soon,” Smith said. “He’ll wait.”
The $100,500 San Simeon Stakes was the 13th time Smith has ridden Sumter in his 32-race career.
By War Front, Sumter has won six times and earned $587,870. The San Simeon was Sumter’s first win in a graded stakes in his 16th appearance in such a race.
Smith said the distance of the San Simeon “is what he likes.”
A five-furlong turf race at Del Mar is “too short.”
The San Simeon was Sumter’s fifth stakes win. He won consecutive starts in the Pasadena and Singletary Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf in February and April 2022, and lost 16 starts before winning the restricted Lure Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in October 2024.
Sumter, who races for Ramona and Perry Bass and trainer Richard Mandella, won the 2025 Lure Stakes last October. The gelding ended a three-race losing streak since the Lure Stakes on Saturday.
Seal Team, trained by Mandella, was last throughout in his first start since a sixth-place finish by 1 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile last May. Seal Team drifted wide over the crossing and never threatened the leaders, losing by 3 3/4 lengths.
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