Mirco Demuro rides Gas Me Up to Santa Anita win, denying Flavien Prat and Sumter

Gas Me Up and rider Mirco Demuro rallied from last on the Santa Anita hillside turf course to win the Grade II Joe Hernandez Stakes at 13-1 on Monday and maybe play spoiler in the national jockeys’ battle between Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat.

Sumter and Prat also flew late to finish second in the grass sprint with a purse of $200,000. The difference between the $120,000 winner’s share and the $40,000 for second is important for Prat, who was trying to cut into Ortiz’s earnings lead of $40,488,707 to $40,229,713 to start the day.