Squirtle Squirt Finds Clear Sailing at Fairplex

With nemesis Flame Thrower back in the barn at Santa Anita, Squirtle Squirt returned to the winner’s circle Sunday at Fairplex Park, winning the $101,475 Barretts Juvenile Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths.

Squirtle Squirt was on a four-race winning streak, including a victory in the Hollywood Juvenile, when he ran into Flame Thrower twice at Del Mar, with disastrous results. Trainer Joe Garcia’s colt was badly beaten twice, with the second race, the Del Mar Futurity, establishing Flame Thrower as one of the best 2-year-olds in the country.

Garcia hired Corey Black to ride Squirtle Squirt for the first time Sunday, and the result was an easy win, worth $56,375. Squirtle Squirt ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17 4/5 as King George’s Way, a maiden running for trainer Mel Stute, finished second, a neck better than Chinook Cat.

Rocky’s Crew, who led briefly before Squirtle Squirt took over at the half-mile pole, finished last in the seven-horse field. Favored Squirtle Squirt paid $4.40 for $2.

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At Belmont Park, Ciro earned his way into the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4 with a 2 1/2-length win over Whata Brainstorm in the $150,000 Lawrence Realization Handicap.

Ciro had won the Secretariat at Arlington International last month in his U.S. debut, but his trainer, Christophe Clement, wasn’t sure whether the colt could run 1 1/2 miles, the Breeders’ Cup distance. Ciro, with Jose Santos aboard, ran 1 1/2 miles Sunday in 2:31 2/5 on a damp course listed as good.

Lodge Hill finished third. Ciro, carrying high weight of 123 pounds, paid $4.80 as the favorite. The son of Woodman, who cost $500,000 as a yearling, had won three of seven starts in Europe. He’ll try to become the first 3-year-old to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf since Tikkanenin 1994.