High-Priced Cezanne Leaves Big Impression In Kona Gold

Purchased for a whopping $3,650,000 at age two and idle since Aug. 1, Bob Baffert's Cezanne came back to the races in a massive way on Sunday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as he rallied into a blistering pace and came away with a 9 ¾-length victory over odds-on favorite Brickyard Ride.  With leading man Flavien Prat picking up his fourth win on the day and his second stakes score, Cezanne, a 4-year-old colt by Curlin, smoked home in 1:14.71 for 6 ½ furlongs.

Taken in-hand out of the gate while stablemate Ax Man chased Brickyard Ride, Cezanne was next to last in a field of four at the rail and moved into contention around the far turn while well within himself.  With Prat sitting motionless to the five sixteenths pole, Cezanne fairly sailed by Brickyard Ride turning for home and won in sensational fashion as Baffert picked up his second win on the day.

“It worked out well,” said Prat, who has now ridden Cezanne in all four of his starts, winning three times.  “We had a fast pace in front of us and we were able to save ground.  He gave me a good kick when I asked him.  He ran really nice.”

Fourth in the two turn Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar Aug. 1, Cezanne, in his second career stakes assignment, was the second choice at 9-5 and paid $5.80 and $2.40 with no show wagering.

“We knew there was going to be a hot pace,” said Jimmy Barnes, assistant to Baffert, who also collected his fourth Kona Gold win today.  “Not sure how fast, but it ended up being fast, and you know Cezanne just ate them up.  (Prat) gave him a wonderful ride and Bob had him ready…With the races coming up this spring and summer, we should be looking really good with Cezanne.”

Owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and St. Elias Stable, Cezanne, who is out of the Bernardini mare Achieving, now has three wins from four starts and with the winner's take of $60,000, increased his earnings to $123,000.

Brickyard Ride, who set similarly fast splits in winning the Grade II, seven furlong San Carlos Stakes here on March 6, was unable to notch his third consecutive stakes win, but stayed gamely for the place, finishing 1 ¼ lengths better than Fight On, while Ax Man checked in last.

Ridden by Alexis Centeno, Brickyard Ride, the lone Cal-bred in the field of four 3-year-olds and up was off at 3-5 and paid $2.20 to show.

Fraction on the race were 21.18, 43.60 and 1:08.27.

With a training double, Baffert has 32 wins through 50 racing days, two better than Phil D'Amato.  Prat, who also won the Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup earlier with Tizamagician, now has 89 wins, 38 clear of Juan Hernandez.  Prat's 16 stakes wins put him six in front of Umberto Rispoli.

Racing resumes with first post time for a nine-race card on Friday at 1 p.m.

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Cal-Bred Brickyard Ride Tops Short Field In Kona Gold Stakes

Fresh off the best race of his career, the Craig Lewis-trained Brickyard Ride, along with Bob Baffert's multiple stakes winning Ax Man, head Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita. Named for the winner of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint and Eclipse Champion Sprinter of the year 2000, the Kona Gold has attracted four 3-year-olds and up going 6 ½ furlongs over the Santa Anita main track.

A 4-year-old California-bred colt by red-hot sire Clubhouse Ride, Brickyard Ride is owned by his breeder, Alfred Pais. A gate to wire winner of both the six furlong California Cup Sprint on Jan. 16 and the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes going seven furlongs on March 6, Brickyard Ride has won four out of his last five starts since being paired with apprentice Alexis Centeno, dating back to a gate to wire allowance win going six furlongs here on Sept. 27.

“He's blessed with a lot of natural speed (and) obviously, he's learning how to relax,” said Lewis following the San Carlos, which was Brickyard Ride's first try in graded stakes competition. “He's maturing, he's a big powerful horse. He reached for (more) ground like a horse that could run forever. He's starting to look like he could be the goods.”

A four-length winner of the San Carlos, Brickyard Ride, the lone Cal-bred in the field, earned a career-best 100 Beyer Speed figure, which narrowly topped his Cal Cup Sprint Beyer of 99. Out of the Southern Image mare Brickyard Helen, Brickyard Ride, who cuts back in distance a sixteenth of a mile, will be bidding for his third consecutive stakes win and his eighth victory from 14 lifetime starts which have produced earnings of $380,277.

Ridden for the first time by Edwin Maldonado, the Hal and Patti Earnhardt homebred Ax Man went to the front and never looked back in an impressive 4 ½ length win in the ungraded Santana Mile on March 28.

“I was very confident turning for home,” said Maldonado, who is well respected for his ability to get the best out of front-running horses. “I gave him a couple reminders, but he knows what he's doing…Bob told me to put him on the lead and it's not like I don't like to be on the lead, right? The rest of it was very simple, put him on the lead and he did the rest.”

Although Ax Man, a 6-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding, is shortening up from a big effort going two turns, it can be expected that Maldonado will employ similar tactics, as conceding the early advantage to Brickyard Ride would likely be an ill-advised strategy.

A non-threatening fourth as the 3-1 favorite two starts back in the Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs on Jan. 23, Ax Man, who is out of the Flying Chevron mare Shameful, earned a 95 Beyer in winning the Santana Mile, his second career stakes win. With an overall mark of 16-7-0-3, he has earnings of $357,797.

THE GRADE 3 KONA GOLD WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT

  1. Cezanne—Flavien Prat—122
  2. Fight On—Umberto Rispoli—124
  3. Ax Man—Edwin Maldonado–124
  4. Brickyard Ride—Alexis Centeno—126

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