Brandothebartender Serves Up Victory In Sensational Star

ARCADIA, CA – Flawless Racing, Brian Flanagan, and Michael Jarvis’ Brandothebartender served up a strong rallying victory in Sunday’s $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Umberto Rispoli piloted the Craig Dollase trainee from the far outside post 7 as the 5/2 second choice and sat off the early pace that the 9/5 favorite Jetovator set down the backstretch and through the far turn.

Rispoli navigated Brandothebartender between rivals at the top of the stretch and rallied steadily toward the front, collaring the leaders near the 1/16 pole before crossing 1 1/4 lengths clear, completing the 6-furlong firm turf sprint in 1:08.51.

“He’s such a versatile horse,” Rispoli said. “Sometimes, the track can play tricky; it depends how fast they go in front. Today, the key was to be on the outside and give him a clean run without any trouble.”

Jamming Eddy took second by a neck and a nose over Desmond Doss and Jetovator, respectively. Royal Trump, Prodigal Son, and Margot’s Boy completed the order of finish in the race restricted to California-breds.

Brandothebartender’s win was his first since a local allowance December 31, 2018, and improved his overall record to 42-7-6-15. The 8-year-old gelded son of Tribal Rule has now bankrolled $608,364.

“I’m just so happy for these owners,” Dollase said. “They’re new to the business and we’ve had a lot of seconds and thirds, but the wins have been tough to come by. Looking at the race, I thought he could win because of the way it set up. It looked like there was plenty of speed, and there was. I loved the outside post today and it worked out. This horse brings it every time. He’s 8 years old, but he doesn’t know it!”

Brandothebartender returned $7.40 to win, $3.80 to place, and $2.60 to show. Jamming Eddy brought back $4.40 to place and $2.80 to show. Desmond Doss paid $2.80 to show.