Charles Whittingham Memorial

Sweet Return (right) earned his first win in more than a year on Saturday (Benoit Photo)

Red Oak Stable’s SWEET RETURN (GB) (Elmaamul) went right to the lead in Saturday’s
$350,000
Charles Whittingham Memorial H. (G1) and stayed there until midstretch, where the five-year-old
encountered post-time favorite Red Fort’s (Ire) (Green Desert) closing run. From
that point on, jockey Alex Solis asked his mount for his best and received it,
as Sweet Return found more approaching the wire and fought back for a
well-earned head victory over Hollywood Park’s firm turf.

Aside from Red Fort’s sticking his nose in front, Sweet Return did not
receive much pressure during the entire 1 1/4-mile test. Allowed to set
leisurely fractions of :26, :50 3/5, 1:14 1/5 and 1:38 2/5 for the mile, the
chestnut never heard the hoofsteps of third-place finisher Vangelis (Highest Honor [Fr]),
who was 3 1/2 lengths back at the wire. Red Fort made a commendable run through the stretch,
but did not have enough to put away the winner, who stopped the teletimer in 2:01 1/5.

The Ron McAnally trainee returned $10, $3.80 and $2.40 at 4-1 and started $1
exotics of $12.50 for the exacta, $34 for the trifecta and $368.30 for the
3-4-6-5 superfecta. Red Fort returned $2.80 and $2.20 for his efforts, and Vangelis was
worth $2.20 for the show. Next came Deputy Lad (Mecke), Stanley Park (Swain [Ire]), Sarafan
(Lear Fan), Just Wonder (GB) (Hernando [Fr]), Continuously (Diesis [GB]) and Pellegrino (Brz)
(Nugget Point [Ire]).