It was an easy second victory of the year on Wednesday for ANCHOR DOWN’s Dropped Anchor at Gulfstream Park.
Racing over a mile on the dirt, Dropped Anchor showed his professionalism when he brushed off a rival bumping him a few times in the first quarter mile. Settling into his best stride after that encounter, Dropped Anchor raced just behind the leader until they entered the turn where Paco Lopez angled him off the rail. Pinning his ears, Dropped Anchor passed the leader and entered the final two furlongs in the lead.
Only one horse was able to stick within a few lengths of him down the stretch with Dropped Anchor finishing three lengths in front of that rival and the rest of the field more than 12 lengths behind the winner.
Dropped Anchor has made easy work of his races this year with two wins and a second from four starts for Cloud Nine Lumoni and co-owner/breeder Brandywine Farm.
The colt is one of eight winners from eight to race out of his dam Believe In Wonder, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Wonder Again. In addition to producing a stakes winner, Wonder Again is also the granddam of this year’s Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) winner Colonel Liam.
A strong family through the generations, Dropped Anchor’s third dam is the dam of Grade 1 winner Tribulation and Grade 3 winner Graceful Darby.
The sire of 12 winners of 15 races, TAPIT son ANCHOR DOWN has one of the best percentages of winners among all second crop sires with a 48 percent strike rate from 25 runners, including three stakes horses.