Cattin cruises in $100,000 Inaugural S.

Cattin burst to the lead at the top of the Tampa Bay Downs stretch on the way to a 2 ½-length victory in the Dec. 4 $100,000 Inaugural S. for 2-year-olds.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm in partnership with Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Cattin  was bred by Curtis Mikkelsen and Patricia Horth.

Cattin got squeezed back a bit at the start and found himself in fifth, but only a couple lengths off the lead, as the field made its way down the backstretch. Jockey Samy Camacho finally got his mount in the clear coming into the stretch, and he shot through an opening to take command. Cattin was well clear with a furlong to run and was geared down late to finish the six furlongs on a fast track in 1:10.90.

“I thought he would run good today,” Sonny Righter, assistant to trainer Ralph Nicks said. “I was worried he might get shuffled back early, but Samy got him back in the race pretty quick and he caught a good trip after that. He was feeling good going into the race and he ran huge.”

Cattin has now won two of his four starts this year, and also placed in the $400,000 In Reality S. His earnings stand at $164, 550.