Messier Out To Make Amends In Sunday’s Bob Lewis Stakes

Second at 1-2 in his most recent stakes assignment, Messier will be out to make amends and stamp himself an “A-List” Derby hopeful as he heads a field of five sophomores going 1 1/16 miles in Sunday's Grade 3, $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.

An important prep on the road to both the Santa Anita and Kentucky Derbies, the Lewis will provide the winner with 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and the second, third and fourth place finishers with four, two and one point respectively. However, the Bob Baffert-trained colt is not eligible for those points due to Churchill Downs' ban of the Hall of Fame trainer.

A chestnut colt by Empire Maker, Messier, an impressive six furlong maiden winner here three starts back on Oct. 22, then galloped to a 3 ½ length score going seven furlongs in the G3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 14. Subsequently dispatched at 1-2 in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity at a mile and one sixteenth, he appeared to have the race won three sixteenths of a mile out, but the Doug O'Neill-trained Slow Down Andy, although racing erratically, came back on to Messier's outside to register a one length win.

Although beaten in his first two turn assignment, Messier, who has been favored in all four of his starts, appeared undaunted, as he galloped out strongly and in front around the Clubhouse turn at Los Alamitos. Trained by Baffert and owned by SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, et al, Messier is well seasoned, with two wins and as many seconds from four starts. Ridden by Flavien Prat in his last three starts, he'll be handled for the first time by John Velazquez in the Lewis.

Messier's primary rival certainly appears to be the Simon Callaghan-trained Sir London, who crushed four rivals in breaking his maiden by 10 lengths as the 1-5 favorite on Dec. 4 at Los Alamitos. Second in a pair of maiden sprints on Oct. 3 at Santa Anita and Nov. 13 at Del Mar, Sir London led every step of the way in breaking his maiden at a flat mile Dec. 4 and seems very well spotted in Saturday's Lewis as he retains the services of Flavien Prat.

A $700,000 2-year-old in training sale purchase in May of last year, Sir London is by Malibu Moon and is owned by AMO Racing USA and Qatar Racing Limited. Heavily favored in his last two starts, he also brings a last-out Beyer Speed Figure of 80 to the Lewis, which compares favorably with Messier's 83 Beyer, which he earned in finishing second in the Los Al Futurity.

Campaigned on grass in his last four starts, Kretz Racing's Cabo Spirit rallied for an impressive a 1 ¼ length win in the one mile turf Eddie Logan Stakes here on Jan. 2, an effort that was flattered by runner-up Maglev's victory on turf here Sunday in the ungraded Baffle Stakes. Trained by George Papaprodromou, Cabo Spirit is by Pioneerof the Nile and fetched $575,000 at an Ocala, Fla. 2-year-old in training sale last April. Winless in his first three starts on dirt, Cabo Spirit has won two out of his last four starts on turf and his connections are hoping that with seasoning, he can transfer that solid recent form to the main track on Sunday with regular rider Victor Espinoza back aboard.

Dismissed in his six furlong debut at 24-1 here on Jan. 22, Doug O'Neill's Happy Jack won like a horse that should relish a route of ground. Shuffled back around the turn, he split horses three sixteenths out and went to easily defeat Baffert's favored Bletchley Park and galloped out impressively as well. Owned and bred by Calumet Farm, Happy Jack is by Oxbow and will be ridden back by Abel Cedillo.

THE GRADE 3 ROBERT B. LEWIS WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

  1. Messier—John Velazquez—120
  2. Sir London—Flavien Prat—120
  3. Cabo Spirit—Victor Espinoza—124
  4. Wharton—Juan Hernandez—120
  5. Happy Jack—Abel Cedillo–120

First post time for a nine-race program, which will also include the Grade III, $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes, is at 12:30 p.m. with admission gates opening at 10:30 a.m.

 

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Cabo Spirit, Victor Espinoza Team For Eddie Logan Victory

Handled patiently by Victor Espinoza, Kretz Racing's Cabo Spirit demonstrated a nifty turn of foot through the lane to take Sunday's $100,000 Eddie Logan by 1 ¼ lengths at Santa Anita.  Trained by George Papaprodromou, who swept Sunday's Late Double at the Arcadia, Calif., track, Cabo Spirit got one mile on turf in 1:36.38.

“First of all, I can't thank enough Mr. Kretz for supporting me these past 10 years and thanks to all my help who do a great job keeping the horses happy and going like this,” said Papaprodromou.  “I think the last time (when a close third going a mile on turf in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Nov. 28, he moved a little too soon, but what can you say, he ran a huge race that day, too.

“Today, what I did was put the cheaters (blinkers with a very minimal cup) on him a little bit.  Last time I had to put on the semis and he couldn't see the from the outside.  He kind of got a little confused I think, but today he just ran great.  He settled nicely on the backside and he did run huge at the end.”

Beaten just a half length in the DeMille, Cabo Spirit, a 3-year-old colt by Pioneerof the Nile, was off at 5-2 in a field of nine sophomores and paid $7.60, $4.00 and $3.20.

“The turf is a little soft, so I figured if I go to the front, my chances wouldn't be that great, so I decided to take him back a little bit and just let him run in the end,” said Espinoza, who has ridden Cabo Spirit in his last four starts, winning two.  “It seemed like he really liked that style and when I had a little room to let him run down the stretch, he opened up two lengths in no time.”

With his first stakes win, Cabo Spirit, who is out of the Shamardal mare Fancy Day, picked up $60,000 for his efforts, running his earnings to $136,220 while improving his overall mark to 7-2-1-2.

Irish-bred Maglev, who was making his U.S. debut, saved ground to the top of the lane but  raced erratically late, finishing well as the 2-1 favorite under Umberto Rispoli and paid $4.40 and $3.20 while finishing a neck in front of Handy Dandy.

Handy Dandy, fresh off of an impressive one mile maiden turf win Nov. 28, was attentive to the pace but lacked the necessary kick late.  Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, he was off at 5-1 and paid $3.80 to show.

Fractions on the race were 23.07, 47.26, 1:12.34 and 1:24.68.

Live racing resumes at Santa Anita on Friday, with first post time for a nine-race card at 12:30 p.m.

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Verbal Rallies To Win Cecil B. DeMille Stakes At Del Mar

Verbal made the trip from New York to California a winning one, the son of Flintshire's stretch drive putting him on the wire first in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

On the final day of the Bing Crosby season at the Del Mar, Calif., racetrack, the field of 10 broke evenly from the starting gate, Groovy Huey showing his head first with Get Back Goldie second as they approached the first turn. The two leaders put seven lengths between them and the field on the backstretch, with Barsabas third and Cabo Spirit in fourth.

Approaching the far turn, Get Back Goldie assumed the lead, with Barsabas and Cabo Spirit back in second and third as Groovy Huey fell out of contention. Jose Ortiz moved Verbal from midpack on the backstretch to fourth on the far turn, going four-wide into the stretch. Cabo Spirit took the lead in the stretch, with Barsabas and Verbal driving down the center of the track. The favored Verbal hit the front in the last strides before the wire, taking the G3 by a half-length. Barsabas was second, with Cabo Spirit third. Lottery Pick, Optimising, Derecho Dandy, Khantaro d'Oro, Stotland, Get Back Goldie, and Groovy Huey rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the one-mile Cecil B. DeMille was 1:36.16. Find this race's chart here.

Verbal paid $4.00, $3.20, and $2.60. Barsabas paid $31.20 and $12.80. Cabo Spirit paid $5.00.

“He won easy last time, but that was against maidens. He was running against winners today, much better horses. I knew there would be speed in the race so, even though I had the outside post, I was able to drop over and save some ground. He came running when it counted. The boss (trainer Chad Brown) knows how to spot a horse. He had it right today,” jockey Jose Ortiz told the Del Mar Press Office after the race.

“I liked the way he was coming into this race, he's been training well. It worked out like we thought. He's got a really good turn of foot and he got there. We didn't have much luck yesterday, but this is a really good start for today,” Juan Hernandez, assistant to trainer Chad Brown, said after the Cecil B. DeMille.

Bred in Kentucky by owner Juddmonte Farms, Verbal is out of the Bernardini mare Endless Chat. The G3 Cecil B. DeMille is Verbal's second win in two career starts for career earnings of $109,500.

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