Saturday’s GII San Gorgonio H. lost some of its luster when it was revealed that Life Is Sweet (Storm Cat) tied up in the morning and was scratched, but Cat by the Tale (Tale of the Cat) came home a good-looking winner. “[Trainer] Neil [Drysdale] said that I could probably lay second or third early,” said winning rider Joel Rosario. “I didn’t want anybody to get an easy lead, and I wanted to make sure I put some pressure on. She got to the three-eighths pole really easy. I wanted to make the lead at the quarter pole, and she did the rest. She was impressive.” There was a four-way photo for second, with multiple Grade I winner–and 2-1 favorite–Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) coming up short in fifth. Sent off as the third choice to Diamondrella, Cat by the Tale enjoyed a perfect trip in the catbird seat off pacesetter Century Park (General Meeting). She pounced to the lead turning for home and finished up smartly for her first graded trophy.

Cat by the Tale hit the board once in two juvenile starts at Arlington for trainer David Hanley. Acquired on Raymond Keogh’s behalf as a three-year-old at KEEJAN, she won twice in Ireland in 2008 for trainer David Wachman before being transferred to Neil Drysdale last spring. After capturing her U.S. bow, the chestnut ran second and third in a pair of Hollywood allowance heats in May, then idled for five months. She came back to annex a hillside sprint at Oak Tree Oct. 23, followed that with a solid third to Tuscan Evening (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in the GII Las Palmas H. Nov. 6, and came into this test off another good show effort in the GII Bayakoa H. on the Hollywood main track Dec. 5.