Slow Down Andy broke on top and never looked back as he finally broke through for his first G1 victory when capturing the G1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, 30 September.
The victory earned the four-year-old Nyquist colt an automatic berth in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run at Santa Anita on 4 November.
Sent off as the favorite in the field of nine, Slow Down Andy broke sharply and was sent immediately to the front by jockey Mario Gutierrez to set the pace. Slow Down Andy continued to lead the way down the backstretch and into the far turn, where defending champ, Defunded, ranged up on the leader’s outside. Slow Down Andy quickly spurted away and continued to open up through the stretch, eventually crossing the wire to win by two lengths.
Slow Down Andy now has won Graded Stakes on both turf and dirt, after having won the G2 Del Mar Derby over the lawn as a three-year-old in 2022.
Slow Down Andy was bred in Kentucky by his owner, Reddam Racing LLC. He is a full brother to two-time Stakes winner, Team Merchants. Both colts are out of the mare Edwina E (Square Eddie), a full sister to the multiple Stakes-placed pair of Electric Eddie and Rinse and Repeat.
Slow Down Andy is one of eight Black Type winners in 2023 for his sire Nyquist, a list that also includes Randomized, winner of the G1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga. Additional Stakes winners this year include the talented juvenile filly, Crimson Advocate, winner of the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot; New York Thunder, dominating winner of the G2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga, as well as Stakes winners Xigera, Johannes, Hacking It Up and Flying Connection.
