Cheyenne Stable LLC’s brilliant turf marathon specialist Mondego (GB) was at his best once again May 2nd in the $200,000 Charles Whittingham S. (G2), forging his way to a half-length victory in the 1 ¼-mile contest.

Facing a quartet of foes, Mondego was fourth the first time under the wire as Balladeer was keen on the lead. After opening up a six-length lead on the backstretch, the rest of the field began to catch up to Balladeer with a half-mile to go. Mondego made his move for the lead while three-wide on the turn, with Flashiest just to his inside. Those two came into the stretch side-by-side and battled that way until the final sixteenth, when Mondego edged away to finish in 1:59.99 on the firm turf.

“This is his best distance,” Mike McCarthy assistant Chelsie Raabe said. “I think we had a couple of really good starts earlier in the year, but we have kind of found that this is his sweet spot, so we just let him do his thing.”

Winner of the San Marcos S. (G3) at this same distance in February, 6-year-old Mondego is 5-1-4 in 21 starts and has earned $539,047.