Lieutenant Dan Fires in Echo Eddie

ARCADIA, CA –  Lieutenant Dan dug in and battled out a win in Saturday’s Echo Eddie Stakes at Santa Anita Park. This was the second consecutive win and first stakes try for the three-year-old Cal-bred son of Grazen.

Tap the Wire broke best and went straight to the front along with Lieutenant Dan on the inside. Principe Carlo was close back on the outside and the post-time favorite, Foster Boi, sat just off of the leaders on the inside. Principe Carlo got up for the lead and sat between Tap the Wire and Lieutenant Dan. Into the turn, Tap the Wire made a move three-wide to draw even with Principe Carlo and Lieutenant Dan but by the top of the stretch, Lieutenant drew away and held a 1/2 length lead. Lieutenant Dan continued on to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Principe Carlo continued on to finish second and Listing finished ahead of Foster Boi in a photo for third.

We broke really well and the key was to get a good position,” said jockey Geovanni Franco. “There was a lot of speed and [Tap the Wire] was outside of me. When it was time to go, my horse responded really well and we just took off.”

Lieutenant Dan is bred and owned by Nick Alexander.

“The name comes from the movie Forest Gump,” said Alexander. “It’s one of my favorite movies, I’ve seen it 20 times.”

Lieutenant Dan’s start here today came just 16 days after his last start at Golden Gate in which he finished first.

“He’s still a work in progress,” said winning trainer Steve Miyadi. “His last race at Golden Gate helped him, no question. He’s still slow to change leads. I was very happy to get Geo back on him.”

Lieutenant Dan returned $10.40 to win, $5.00 to place, and $3.40 to show. Principe Carlo brought back $4.80 to place and $3.20 to show, while Listing paid $3.40 to show.