WAR FRONT’s three-time stakes winning son Sumter entered the Lure S. looking to take home his fourth stakes victory and did exactly that at Santa Anita with a four-length victory at Santa Anita on Saturday to double up on wins in the race.
The one-mile turf race saw Sumter settle in third well behind WAR FRONT’s runaway son Goliad, who opened well over five lengths on the field. Sumter moved up to race alongside the second placed runner in the turn before confronting his sire’s other runner going into the stretch.
Sumterproved to be much the best with Mike Smith barely moving on him in the stretch. Goliad just missed finishing third.
Trained by Richard Mandella as a homebred for Perry and Ramona Bass, Sumter has won five starts with 10 other top three finishes – including 10 stakes top three finishes.
Sumter is one of two stakes winners out of the stakes winning A Little Bit Sassy alongside his full sister Pizzazz with the mare producing three winners from four to race. This family also includes Preakness S. (G1) winner Red Bullet, Highlander S. (G1) winner Silent Poet, and many other stakes performers.
This is the fourth stakes winner of the year for WAR FRONT, who also has eight stakes performers with the group led by Grade 1 winner Fort Washington.