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Duopoly Ships West For Brown, Wires American Oaks Field

Trainer Chad Brown-trained Duopoly made it look easy on Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as she waltzed to a front-running two-length tally going 1 1/4 miles on turf in the Grade 1, $300,000 American Oaks. Ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, Duopoly stopped the clock at 2:01.61. on firm turf.

With a hillside start, Duopoly made the lead out of the gate effortlessly and while under a stout hold, enjoyed a length and a half advantage over favored Sharing as the field crossed under the wire for the first time. With Sharing applying pressure heading to the far turn, Prat let out a notch and from the top of the stretch home, Duopoly unfurled a genuinely Grade 1 charge to the wire in an emphatic win.

“I thought on the backside someone was going to hook up with me but lucky enough nobody did. We had a pretty nice trip,” said Prat. “She was full of herself and traveling perfect. When I asked her she really kicked in. She never really ran the distance but I guess Chad Brown doesn't come down here just to race.”

An ungraded gate to wire stakes winner at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Aqueduct Nov. 15, Duopoly was off at 6-1 in a field of 10 sophomore fillies and paid $14.00, $7.60 and $4.60.

By Animal Kingdom out of the Danehill Dancer mare Justaroundmidnight, Duopoly, who is owned by Klaravich Stables, LLC, notched her first Grade 1 victory and registered her fourth win from six starts. With the winner's share of $180,000, she increased her earnings to $308,034.

Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, the Richard Baltas-trained Going to Vegas out-finished Sharing by three quarters of a length for second money. Off at 14-1, she paid $14.00 and $7.00.

Ridden by John Velazquez for Graham Motion, Sharing, off at 8-5, had no apparent excuses and paid $3.00 to show.

Fractions on the race were 24.91, 49.67, 1:14.89 and 1:38.98.

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Spielberg Gives Baffert Seventh Consecutive Victory In Los Alamitos Futurity

Trainer Bob Baffert ran his winning streak to seven in the Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday, but it wasn't easy.

Spielberg, a $1-million yearling purchase by Union Rags, needed every inch of the 1 1/16 miles of the Grade 2 race at the Cypress, Calif., track to catch the front-running 30-1 long shot The Great One, but jockey Flavien Prat got him up in the final jump. The victory was the 13th in the Futurity for the Hall of Fame trainer since Real Quiet won in 1997, when the race was run at Hollywood Park. The Inglewood, Calif., track ran its last race in 2013 and is now the site of an NFL football stadium.

Spielberg ran the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.56. The Great One held second, with Petruchio a distant third and 4-5 favorite Red Flag fourth in the field of six 2-year-old colts and geldings.

Spielberg paid $5.80 as the second choice in the wagering.

In addition to the $120,000 earned for the win, Spielberg earns 10 qualifying points for the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The second- through fourth-place finishers get 4, 2, and 1 point, respectively. None of the six starters raced on Lasix, a new requirement set by Churchill Downs for horses to be eligible for Derby points.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard.

Spielberg is owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert Masterson. Out of the Smart Strike mare Miss Squeal, Spielberg was bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and purchased at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the consignment of Lane's End, which stands Union Rags.

The Great One, a Nyquist colt who came into the Futurity winless in three starts, went straight to the lead under Abel Cedillo and carved out fractions of :23.01 for the opening quarter mile, :47.76 for the half, and 1:10.66 for six furlongs. Red Flag raced along the rail as Weston chased the front runner from in between horses, and Spielberg was kept clear on the outside.

Into the far turn, Red Flag failed to enter contention as Spielberg began to make his bid and Weston, who was making his first start around two turns, faltered.

The Great One clung to the lead into the long Los Alamitos stretch, passing the mile marker in 1:35.81 and still in front. But Spielberg was eating into the margin as The Great One began to shorten stride and was just up in a desperate finish.

The victory was the second in six starts for Spielberg, who ran second to Dr. Schivel twice at Del Mar in an Aug. 8 maiden race and the Sept. 7 G1 Del Mar Futurity. He was still a maiden when third behind Get Her Number at Santa Anita in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes on Sept. 26, then defeated maidens at Del Mar Nov. 2, edging the highly regarded Parnelli by a neck. He came out of a fourth-place finish Nov. 15 going seven furlongs at Del Mar in the G3 Bob Hope Stakes. Red Flag won by 7 1/4 lengths for trainer John Shirreffs.

“I'd never ridden him before, but (trainer) Bob (Baffert) told me he was doing great,” said Prat. “The outside was a good draw for him. He broke well and was able to relax. I thought we had it all the way down the stretch but it was close.''

“That horse (runner-up The Great One) was tough to get by,” said Baffert. “We needed every bit of that stretch and we were fortunate to get there. I didn't know if I was going to run him here and I didn't decide until after he worked well this week (six furlongs in 1:13 2/5 Dec. 13 at Santa Anita). I knew he was going to run well because he had shipped well over here and he was really on it in the paddock. I'm just happy for everybody in the ownership group.

“Now we can start thinking (Kentucky) Derby,” Baffert continued. “It starts here for us. I thought it was an easy spot last time (fourth as the 3-5 favorite in the Bob Hope) and he didn't ship well. He got nervous when he got in the stall there and was just flat. We ran him back too quick. I asked Prat if there's more there and he said there's a lot more. I think he'll get better with maturity. He's a beautiful horse.''

Of Baffert's 13 winners of the Futurity, only Real Quiet, the 1997 winner, would go on to win the G1 Kentucky Derby.

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‘It’s Gonna Be A Big Hit’: Santa Anita’s New Turf Chute Gets Rave Reviews

On a stunningly beautiful Monday morning, Santa Anita's all-new turf chute, which parallels the track's seven furlong main track chute, was put to the test as a pair of horses broke from the starting gate at a 6 ½ furlong setting and transitioned across the main track and back to the turf course “proper” with aplomb.

Trainer Vladimir Cerin's Lady Noguez, ridden by Umberto Rispoli and Neil Drysdale's Cosmo, with Flavien Prat up, were allowed to run up the backstretch prior to being pulled up as they headed to the far turn.

“What a beautiful addition,” said Prat. “This new chute is fantastic and it's in a great place. Both of the horses handled the dirt crossing with no problem at all and I can't wait to start riding races over this in the afternoons.”

Rispoli was likewise ecstatic regarding the promise of Santa Anita's newest addition.

“It's perfect, there's a slight bend to the right coming out of the gate and then you've got a nice run to the dirt crossing,” he said. “This gives us a lot of options with the kinds of races we can run and I think everybody is going to want to get their horses on it. They've done a great job getting this ready for opening day and I really think it's going to provide some great racing.”

Designed by track consultant Dennis Moore and “green lighted” by Santa Anita's Chief Operating Officer, Aidan Butler, the turf chute project was undertaken on Aug. 17 and involved removal of blacktop and extensive excavation in order to get the running surface elevated and compacted to the level of the main track, which it intersects at approximately the three quarter pole.

“This is a great step forward,” said Moore. “I wanted everything to go just like it did this morning. Those two horses crossed the dirt here with no problem.”

“It's really, really cool to see all of this hard work come together,” said Butler, who will be jetting to Gulfstream Park tomorrow morning to oversee racing operations there. “It looks terrific and this new chute really solidifies our turf offerings here at Santa Anita. It was designed to stand the test of time and here's hoping it's here for many years to come.”

Retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who is now involved in racehorse ownership and is one of America's most highly respected racing analysts on Fox Sports 1, was also on-hand for this morning's demonstration.

“This provides a totally new component to our turf arsenal,” said Stevens. “I actually got a little choked up watching those horses cross the dirt because it reminds me of the downhill crossing and all the races I rode here. I think it's gonna be a big hit. I know I'd sure like to ride it.”

Two other jockeys of note, Hall of Famer Mike Smith and budding star Drayden Van Dyke, joined Stevens on the inside rail.

“It looks really good,” said Smith. “Same as with the downhill, I think Jay (Slender) will load 'em from the outside in, with that little bend to the right.”

“I think everybody was interested in how those horses would handle crossing the dirt, and they did it with no problem,” said Van Dyke. “This is great news for everybody.”

The turf chute, which is 80 feet wide and approximately 800 feet long, will accommodate sprint races at distances of six and 6 ½ furlongs, while Santa Anita's traditional Camino Real Hillside Course will continue to be available to horses running distances of a mile and a quarter and up.

To view this morning's turf chute demonstration, please click here.

While the public will not be admitted for live racing due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, fans are encouraged to follow Santa Anita's live racing via XpressBet.com and 1stBet.com. For more information regarding Santa Anita's upcoming Winter/Spring Meet, including post times, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Viadera Noses Out Stablemate Blowout To Give Chad Brown Another Grade 1 In Matriarch

Trainer Chad Brown has a reputation as an excellent trainer, a superior grass horse trainer and a very special trainer of fillies and mares.

If you need testimony on that, ask the folks at Del Mar.

The New York-based conditioner competed in five of the seven Graded stakes the seashore track offered during Thanksgiving weekend and he won four of them, running second in the other. On Sunday – closing day of the shore track's seventh Bing Crosby Season — he completed his latest tour de force by capturing the Matriarch Stakes with Juddmonte Farms' homebred filly Viadera, who beat stablemate Blowout, owned by Peter Brant, by a whisker in a four-horse blanket finish.

It was the fourth time Brown had captured the $301,500 Grade 1 headliner for fillies and mares and his charge did it with elan this time. The daughter of the British stallion Bated Breath skipped the mile over the Jimmy Durante Turf Course in a stakes record 1:33.03, which shattered the former mark by more than a second.

Finishing third in the distaff crucible was Juddmonte Farms other entrant, Juliet Foxtrot.

Joel Rosario rode Viadera for his fourth Matriarch score. Blowout, under Flavien Prat, had half a length on Juliet Foxtrot and Mike Smith, who in turn had a neck on fourth-place finisher Sharing, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stable and ridden by Manny Franco.

“Whew. I had to work for that one,” said Rosario. “She's a good filly, a really good filly. But she makes you work. I had to stay after her. She can run, though, there's no doubt. I'm lucky that Chad Brown gives me an opportunity like this. Grass horses and especially fillies. He's the best.”

The winner paid $12.80, $5.80 and $3.80 across the board. Blowout returned $5.60 and $3.80, while Juliet Foxtrot paid $4.80.

Viadera earned a first prize of $180,000 and moved her earning up to $391,441. She has now won six of 13 lifetime starts, the last three in stakes.

Previously this weekend, Brown had captured the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap here on Thursday with the filly Orglandes; the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes with Fluffy Sox and the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby with Domestic Spending, both on Saturday. His second-place finish came Saturday with Flavius, beaten three-quarters of a length by Count Again in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap.

Brown now has 12 stakes wins at Del Mar, nine of them of the Grade 1 variety.

“This weekend has been amazing,” said Brown's assistant, Jose Hernandez. “I didn't know which filly (of the stablemates) was the winner, but I'm happy it turned out to be Viadera. My boss Chad Brown is an amazing trainer and I just do my best for him. It's an amazing job for me and I love the horses. In the future, I don't know when it would be, if Chad wanted to come out here with a string, I'd like that. We like it out here.”

The Sunday 10-race card drew the curtain on a banner fall meeting for the seaside oval that saw fully safe racing and a remarkable handle rise of over 30% during the 15-day stand.

Racing will resume at Del Mar next July when the track presents its 82nd summer season, followed by its second hosting of the Breeders' Cup Championships next November.

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