It was all too easy for Forbidden Kingdom to earn 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby; the 3-year-old son of champion American Pharoah simply ran his rivals off their feet in Saturday's Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
Owned by MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm, Forbidden Kingdom was in front all the way around the track in Arcadia, Calif., crossing the wire first by over five lengths in his first start around two turns. Ridden by Juan Hernandez for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, Forbidden Kingdom covered 1 1/16 miles over the fast dirt in 1:43.98.
Sent to post at even-money odds off his victory in the seven-furlong San Vicente (G2), Forbidden Kingdom again defeated Bob Baffert trainee Doppelganger, who was relegated to second. Happy Jack got up for third, while Beautiful Art ran fourth.
(Doppelganger is not eligible to earn the 20 Derby points allotted to his finishing position, due to Churchill Downs' ban of his trainer.)
Beautiful Art reared in the gate and briefly unseated jockey Mike Smith, then hopped at the start of the San Felipe. Meanwhile, Forbidden Kingdom broke very well from his near-outside post, and immediately rushed up to the lead under Hernandez. Around the clubhouse turn, Forbidden Kingdom led Armagnac by two lengths while covering the first quarter mile in :22.66. He extended his lead to as many as 10 lengths down the backstretch, ticking off fractions of :45.90 and 1:10.96 with his ears pricked.
Doppelganger, the second choice, was fifth early on with at least 10 lengths to make up on the runaway leader. Jockey Flavien Prat was able to get Doppelganger to second around the far turn, but Forbidden Kingdom turned for home with a six-length advantage.
Despite going a bit wide around the turn, Forbidden Kingdom continued to race on like a professional through the stretch. With minimal encouragement from Hernandez, Forbidden Kingdom cruised under the wire a winner by at least five lengths. Though Doppelganger dug in gamely, he was not able to make up ground on the leader and had to settle for second. Happy Jack, third in the early going, hung around to finish third, while Beautiful Art overcame his bad start to finish fourth.
Bred in Kentucky by Springhouse Farm, Forbidden Kingdom is out of the Grade 3-winning Five Star Day mare Just Louise. A $300,000 yearling purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale, the colt won his debut over 5 1/2 furlongs on the dirt at Del Mar. Returning in a five-furlong turf stakes on the grass, Forbidden Kingdom ran third.
The colt was defeated by the highly-regarded Messier over seven furlongs on dirt in the G3 Bob Hope Stakes, but rebounded 2 1/2 months later to win the G2 San Vicente over the same distance. The San Felipe win improves his overall record to three wins from five starts, for earnings of over $400,000.
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