One of six grass races that were moved to the main track on Santa Anita's opening day on Sunday, the $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes went to an ultra game Bob and Jackie, who kept to his task on the lead and prevailed by a nose over heavily favored Friar's Road.
Ridden by Jose Valdivia, Jr., Bob and Jackie, in his first ever try on dirt, was off at 5-1 and paid $12.00 and $4.20 with no show wagering. Contested at 1 1/8 miles, Bob and Jackie got the distance in 1:53.51.
“We were the speed of the race,” said Valdivia. “He broke well, but I had to use him quite a bit to make him take the lead. Once he did take the lead, he settled beautifully. His ears came up and he was just waiting for company. When I asked him, he was there for me. We worked our way up and then held on.
“He was kind of waiting around a little bit, but when the horses came to him, he dug in and tried to fight some more. But hat's off to Ritchie (trainer Baltas) and Calvin (co-owner Nguyen) for just taking a shot. It was already a short field and it was going to be even shorter so why not.”
Trained by Richard Baltas for owners Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, Bob and Jackie, a 5-year-old horse by Twirling Candy out of the Eskendereya mare Fateer, picked up his fourth stakes win. Depending upon how the American Stakes Committee rules in the coming days, he could also have notched his first graded stakes win in a race that was originally designated at Grade 2 on grass but will be reviewed by the committee after it was moved to the main track following rain on Saturday.
With an overall mark of 16-5-5-1, Bob and Jackie picked up $120,000 for the win, increasing his earnings to $484,631.
“Now I have to decide if I keep him on the dirt,” said Baltas. “He's been a grass horse the whole time. With the key scratches, we thought we would give it a try and see if things would go our way. We will see how he comes back and we'll go from there in deciding if we keep him on the dirt or go back to the turf.”
Off at 3-5 with Jose Ortiz, Friar's Road, who was last in a compact field of four early, rallied, but came up just short, while paying $2.40 to place.
Fractions on the race were 23.75, 49.29, 1:13.82 and 1:40.05.
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