Bust Out gives Pegram family first stakes win in Cinema Stakes

Bust Out turned a rematch into a milestone, sweeping past Iriseach to win the $100,000 Cinema Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths and give Tim Pegram and his son Jacob “Gator” Pegram their first stakes victory together at Santa Anita Park.

The Michael W. McCarthy trainee covered a mile on firm turf in 1:36.30 and returned $5 to win as the 3-2 favorite. Emisael Jaramillo kept Bust Out within range through the moderate early fractions, then the dark bay or brown colt finished best to settle the issue while Charlie’s Curlin checked in third and Go Ralph was fourth in the small field. Equibase’s chart listed the splits as :24.50, :49.05, 1:12.70 and 1:24.58, with a 90-foot run-up and the temporary rail set at 20 feet.

The result mattered because Bust Out did not come into the race as an unknown. Santa Anita’s stable notes said Charlie’s Curlin had beaten him by a neck in their previous allowance meeting, a race that helped set up Sunday’s showdown. Bust Out had also already tried stakes company once, finishing fifth in the Baffle Stakes on the hillside turf before returning to a one-mile allowance and again running into Charlie’s Curlin. This time, the stretch-out and the added experience showed in the finish.

For the Pegrams, the win carried family weight beyond the purse and the chart. The Pegram name has long been part of Southern California racing through patriarch Mike Pegram, whose stable produced top-level winners such as Real Quiet and Lookin At Lucky. Jacob M. and Timothy A. Pegram finally added their own black-type victory to that legacy, and they did it with a colt who looks built for more than one isolated turf score.

Bust Out is a Kentucky-bred foaled March 29, 2023, by Complexity out of Swap Shop by Creative Cause. Bred by Brereton C. Jones and Bret Jones, he has now compiled a record of 5 starts, 2 wins and 1 second, with earnings of more than $100,000. That profile, along with his ability to sit close and finish over a route of ground, gives the Pegrams a horse with more room to climb through the turf stakes ranks.

The Cinema Stakes, scheduled as a 3-year-old turf race at 1 mile with a $100,000 purse, gave Bust Out the kind of result that changes a horse’s path as much as it fills a résumé. For the Pegram family, it was the first stakes win together, and for Bust Out, it was proof he can carry his speed and stamina into better company.