12 Ene. USA. Colonel E.R.Bradley H. G3. Fair Grounds. 8,5f. Turf. 100.000 $
1.- FRENCH BERET (J.Graham)
2.- MAJOR RHYTHM (R.Zimmerman)
3.- STERWINS (M.Mena)


Sam-Son Farms homebred French Beret stalked the pace, took over at the top of the lane and held off a host of rivals Jan. 12 in the $100,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley Handicap (gr. IIIT) (VIDEO) on the Fair Grounds turf, notching his first win in nearly 18 months.
A 5-year-old Broad Brush gelding, French Beret broke a streak of 12 consecutive starts without a victory. Prior to the Col. Bradley, his last time in the winner’s circle had been in the July 15, 2006, Toronto Cup Stakes at Woodbine. Overall, it was French Beret’s third victory in 22 lifetime starts and his first graded stakes triumph.

Trained by Mark Frostad, French Beret’s final margin of victory was 1 ¾ lengths over Major Rhythm, who rallied late on the rail to get up by a nose over 2-1 favorite Sterwins. Multiple graded stakes winner Silverfoot, making his first start in nearly 14 months, never fired and finished eighth. The final time for 1 1/16-miles was 1:45.83.

The first six furlongs of the 4-year-olds and up event was a duel between Save Big Money and Optimer, who both finished just behind Sterwins in their most recent start, the Dec. 15 Buddy Dilberto Memorial Handicap at Fair Grounds. The two rivals were virtually side-by-side through much of the backstretch this time, posting easy fractions of :24.97, :50.75 and 1:15.57.

The duel set up perfectly for French Beret, who was ridden patiently by James Graham, as he saved ground behind the leaders, then made a bid just to their outside before taking over at the top of the stretch. The other eight challengers were packed together within striking distance in the final furlong, all of them pursuing the new leader. But French Beret had plenty left for the wire, breaking his long drought with authority.

"This horse has tons of class," Graham said. "He tries his heart out every time. The distance was not going to bother him. The drying ground with a closer today, I thought would help us big.”