AS for America…

Ducking Arrogate, Shaman Ghost ventured west to take the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap last Saturday.

Owned by Stronach Stable and trained by Jimmy Jerkens, Shaman Ghost finished second to Arrogate in the Pegasus.

As Arrogate prepares for the Dubai World Cup, Shaman Ghost took advantage. The son of Ghostzapper earned a three-quarters of a length win over Midnight Storm and Follow Me Crev. Javier Castellano travelled from his base at Gulfstream Park to guide the winner.

“I knew there wasn’t a lot of speed in the race so I just wanted to focus on the horse on the lead, Midnight Storm, and keep track of him. He was comfortable the whole way,” Castellano said. “I knew I had it won at the eighth pole. I asked him for full speed at the eighth pole, and he gave it to me, right away. I said ‘Yes!’ He’s a classy horse. With not a lot of speed in the race, I had to ask him a little, put him really close to the pace and he responded. He’s a very classy horse.”

An Ontario-bred homebred, Shaman Ghost earned his seventh career win and third stakes race win since going from Brian Lynch’s stable to Jerkens’ stable last year.

“Javier was able to head him to the outside, out of the dirt, and I felt good right before they turned for home. I felt like, ‘May the best horse win’,” Jerkens said.

“It didn’t look on paper like there was much pace, so it didn’t surprise me that he was placed where he was. He’s been showing up in all of his races.”