Caravaggio’s Stark Contrast Carries Amerman Colors to Victory in Zuma Beach

[Wandering Eyes]

The last Amerman Racing homebred by Oscar Performance to carry the colors home in the GIII Zuma Beach Stakes was Endlessly, who captured the race as the 80 cents on the dollar favorite in 2023. Stark Contrast, a horse with a pair of races under his belt, duplicated the feat at Santa Anita Sunday.

Like Endlessly, Stark Contrast is also from the Michael McCarthy shedrow. The colt tried turf for his conditioner at second asking over the seaside oval grass course and he won by a length Sept. 6. Set for his first graded start as a 7-2 shot here, the juvenile steadied himself along the rail as a scramble ensued on the engine into the first turn. Keeping tabs on favored Proletariat up the backstretch and around the far turn, Stark Contrast began to find his best stride entering the lane and he sailed to victory by a length over Third Beer.

“[Stark Contrast] kind of tipped his hand a little bit to us this summer at Del Mar,” McCarthy said. “He worked just well enough to warrant a start on the dirt and he got a lot out of it. Obviously, towards the end of the meet there, we were lucky enough to run him a mile on the turf and he was very good that day. He has been training forwardly since then.”

“I'd like to go to the Breeders' Cup, hopefully he stays healthy,” McCarthy added. “Congratulations to the Amermans. They are not here today, but it would be nice to get back to the Breeders' Cup for them.”

Pedigree Notes:

Caravaggio (Scat Daddy), who has stood in Japan since 2022 after being the leading first-crop sire in Europe the year prior, now has a baker's dozen when it comes to graded winners–led at the top level by the likes of Porta Fortuna (Ire), Whitebeam (GB) and Tenebrism.

The first foal for his dam, the winner has a pair of younger half-sisters who are both by another Amerman homebred, Oscar Performance. Catch the Eye was bred back to that same sire this spring.

Stark Contrast is part of an extended female family which includes MGSW A.P. Warrior (A.P. Indy) and GII American Turf Stakes victor Global View. —campbellparlay

Sunday, Santa Anita
ZUMA BEACH S.-GIII, $100,000, Santa Anita, 10-5, 2yo, 1mT, 1:34.77, fm.
1–STARK CONTRAST, 122, c, 2, by Caravaggio
                1st Dam: Catch the Eye (GSP, $126,902), by Quality Road
                2nd Dam: Turns My Head (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Egyptian Queen, by Storm Cat
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Jerry
Amerman (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Kazushi Kimura.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $112,800. Werk Nick
   Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report &
   5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-    style pedigree.
2–Third Beer, 122, c, 2, Mendelssohn–Siqueira, by Curlin.
   1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Philip Lebherz;
B-Premier Thoroughbreds LLC (CA); T-Tim Yakteen. $20,000.
3–Proletariat, 120, r, 2, Raging Bull (Fr)–Kodiak West (Ire), by
Kodiac (GB). ($50,000 Ylg '24 FTKOCT; $200,000 2yo '25
OBSMAR). O-Dutch Girl Holdings LLC and Irving Ventures LLC;
B-Liberty Road Stables (KY); T-Jeff Mullins. $12,000.
Margins: 1, NK, 4. Odds: 3.60, 7.10, 1.60.
Also Ran: Caro Buono (Fr), Won for Lou. Scratched: Charlie's Curlin, Medici. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

#1 STARK CONTRAST ($9.20), a juvenile colt by Caravaggio, gets his first stakes victory in the $100,000 Zuma Beach Stakes (G3) at @SantaAnitaPark. @kazushi0096 was aboard for trainer @mwmracing. pic.twitter.com/FZYdYwxbxk

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 5, 2025

 

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