Atitlan Gets Clean Trip to Win Twilight Derby

Atitlan got the perfect trip and jockey Hector Berrios got a tip of the hat from trainer John Shirreffs after winning the Twilight Derby (G2T) Oct. 26 at Santa Anita Park. Atitlan, a son of The Factor, came into the race off a third-place finish in the Del Mar Derby (G2T), where he lacked room in the stretch and had to alter course near the sixteenth pole to get a clear run. He had no such trouble in the Twilight Derby. Berrios got the colt out of gate 1 smoothly, then saved ground around the clubhouse turn and down the backstretch. Heading into the stretch, an inviting gap opened, Atitlan shot through willingly and went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths. The favorite, Stay Hot, took the outside route into the lane, swinging six wide, and chased the winner to the wire. Cathal (IRE) was third as Atitlan finished the 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:49.12. Rothschild, last seen finishing third in the $2,337,160 Nashville Derby Invitational (G3T) at Kentucky Downs, rated three wide behind the leaders, was poised for a bid at the top of the lane but failed to deliver, finishing next-last of seven under Kazushi Kimura. Shirreffs said the trip and the ride made the difference for Atitlan. "He's had a little bit of traffic problems in prior races but today he seemed to relax really well and Hector was able to wait and just make one big move," the trainer said, adding Berrios' commitment to the mount made a big difference. "All month long he's come over to work him and every time he's gone in (a minute and one second or a minute or two) and we're thinking, 'Ah, I wonder if that's good enough.' And he says, 'Don't worry John, he's doing very well.' So it's all worked out great. "Some riders are really smart about horses and they don't waste the horse in the morning," Shirreffs added. "Other riders, I think they maybe want to impress the trainer and show that they can go fast, which is really not what you need. Somewhere in that balance is just perfect." Berrios has ridden Atitlan in all his starts other than the first. Atitlan, out of the Acatenango mare Armanda, was bred in Kentucky by Anastasie Astrid Christiansen-Croy. He races for John M. B. O'Connor. Unraced at 2, he finished seventh in his career debut, a six-furlong dirt sprint, at Santa Anita May 27 after being bumped around at the start. Sherriffs put him on the turf in his next go, a one-mile test at Del Mar, where he went off at odds of 35-1 and won by a head in a three-way photo. Asked to go another sixteenth in his next start, the La Jolla Handicap Aug. 4 at Del Mar, Atitlan battled for the lead, then tired late to get home third. He had been working steadily at Santa Anita since the troubled Del Mar Derby effort.