Veteran gelding Sumter bested eastern invader Quereme Pass by a nose to earn his first graded stakes victory March 14 in a thrilling edition of the $100,500 San Simeon Stakes (G3T) for older horses going about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita Park.
Quereme Pass broke on top and led the field through early fractions of :21.96 and :44.28. Sumter, ridden by Mike Smith, ranged up to the pacesetter on the dirt crossing and edged away from that rival at the top of the stretch. But Quereme Pass was not done yet. Quereme Pass gamely battled back under Emisael Jaramillo and raced side-by-side with Sumter before losing by the slimmest of margins. Sumter completed the 6 1/2 furlongs on a firm course in 1:12.80. Finishing a fast-closing third by a head was Genius Jimmy.
"I found out a little something today," Smith said of the winner. "When I opened up on him a little he kind of lost focus. At that point, I was hoping he would just hang on, but it all worked out."
Trained by Richard Mandella, Sumter was making his third start at the Classic Meet for owner/breeders Perry R. Bass II and Ramona Bass after second- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, in the Dec. 29 Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T) and Feb. 8 Clocker's Corner Stakes.
Sumter ($7.80), a 7-year-old son of War Front , improved to 6-6-5 in 32 starts with nearly $587,870 in earnings.
