Spotonjustice hits the mark in Crown Ambassador

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022) – Spotonjustice and DeShawn Parker reeled in an impressive win in the 24th running of the $100,000 Crown Ambassador Saturday, Oct. 29 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The duo covered the six-furlong sprint in a time of 1:11.28 against a full field of 10.

Starting from post 11, Spotonjustice had to work a little early on to get positioning from the outside, but he was able to accomplish the first goal for Parker fairly effortlessly. Caboose and Bryan Rivera held their own inside with Good Forever and Fernando De la Cruz also keeping close.

Heading into the only turn, Spotonjustice bided her time until the stretch and was not backing down. She battled with Solar Power and Marcelino Pedroza Jr. early in the stretch and then fended off Good Forever in the latter stages before getting the win by one-half length. Good Forever finished second over Solar Power.

Spotonjustice was overlooked at the betting windows, paying $21.40 for the win. The Lantana Mob gelding is now two for four in his young career for owners Bob Dhondt, Rod O’Kelley and Tony Granitz. Granitz also trains the gelding, who was an $8,000 purchase from last fall’s ITOBA Fall Mixed Sale from the Justice Farm consignment.

It was a day for Granitz to remember fondly as the race before the Crown Ambassador was named in honor of Lady Fog Horn, one of the top Indiana bred females of all time that was conditioned out of Granitz’s barn during her racing career. Lady Fog Horn, who retired in 2017, was a two-time Horse of the Year and won 14 races before being sold to Japan’s Shadai Farm as a brood mare.

“I’m happy to win a race on this day, since one of the stakes is named after Lady Fog Horn,” said Granitz. “We had a couple of chances to win, so it was nice to get this. This gelding showed a lot of early speed when he broke his maiden, but it was in the mud. So I told DeShawn to give it a try and see if he could do it again.”

Spotonjustice now has more than $80,000 in career earnings for his connections. After trying his luck in stakes action, the Crown Ambassador marks his first career stakes win.

Photos by Coady Photography