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Bella Vita Makes Short Work Of Cal-Bred Rivals In Spring Fever

In a thoroughly dominant performance, Kaleem Shah's Bella Vita, idle since May 16, made short work of six rivals as she powered to a 4 ½-length win in Sunday's $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden by Flavien Prat, the California-bred filly by Shah's 2014 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern got six furlongs in 1:10.33.

Breaking alertly from her outside post position, Bella Vita looked to be in control the entire trip, as she sat a measured fourth, about two lengths off the lead 3 ½ furlongs from home. With Square Peggy rushing up on her outside, Bella Vita shifted out and in an eye-catching move, collared her rival approaching the quarter pole and drew off to win in-hand with her ears pricked.

“One thing about this filly, she's very tractable,” said Callaghan. “(Prat) said she's very push button. You can put her wherever you want, and I think when you have that tactical speed but you relax, it's nice for the jockeys so they can put her wherever she wants (to be).”

A close second in the six-furlong Evening Jewel Stakes May 16, Bella Vita was pounded down to 1-5 and paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10.

“Bayern certainly brings back lots of memories and this filly, she was bred by John Sikura and I'm so happy for John,” said Shah, who ponied up $400,000 to purchase Bella Vita out of a 2-year-olds in training sale in April of 2019. “I hope that this filly, along with many other progenies of Bayern, go on to bigger and better things.”

A runaway 5 ½-furlong turf maiden winner in her second start on Feb. 16, 2020, Bella Vita, who is out of the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat, is now 5-2-2-1 and with the winner's share of $60,000, increased her earnings to $146,996.

Ridden by Alexis Centeno for Doug O'Neill, She's a Dime was second best, finishing 1 ¾ lengths in front of longshot Dr Wysong. Off at 8-1, She's a Dime paid $4.40 and $2.80.

Off at 22-1, Dr Wysong rallied wideout under Abel Cedillo and paid $4.40 to show while finishing 1 ½ lengths in front of Cassie Belle.

Fractions on the race were 22.70, 45.91 and 57.95.

Sponsored by the CTBA, the Spring Fever is part of the CTBA's Golden State Series, for eligible California-bred or sired runners.

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Medaglia d’Oro Gelding Golden Sixty Extends Hong Kong Win Streak To 13

Golden Sixty extended his unbeaten run to 13 straight wins with victory in Sunday's Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin.

However, Hong Kong's highest rated horse was forced to spare no effort as he scrambled to add a third consecutive Group 1 to his glittering record which now stands at 16 wins from 17 starts, four shy of Silent Witness' record 17 consecutive wins.

Dropped out to his customary position at the rear of the field, the Medaglia d'Oro gelding began his surge in the straight but the challenge from Furore on the inside required jockey Vincent Ho to call on everything that Golden Sixty could give and, it proved just enough as he prevailed by a short head, the smallest margin of any of his wins.

“I was quite confident that I would stay ahead of them but we fought hard – it wasn't easy, it was a bit unexpected to be that close. I was just worried about the horse to the inside of him because Golden Sixty laid in a bit, he would have won easier if he didn't do that,” Ho said.

“Once he went past Exultant he wanted to lay in – it made it difficult for me but it's still a victory,” the 30-year-old added.

Sunday's win was both a first in the Gold Cup for trainer Francis Lui and jockey Vincent Ho.

“I think you can't really change the horse's character – when he passed the third horse (Exultant), Golden Sixty thinks he has finished the job, but there's another horse on the inside,” Lui said.

Now rated 131, Golden Sixty is only two wins shy of Beauty Generation's single-season record of eight and, he has the first two legs of Hong Kong's Triple Crown in the bag after claiming last month's G1 Stewards' Cup.

“I will think about the third leg of the Triple Crown, we also have a race in April in mind,” Lui said referencing FWD Champions Day.

The third and final leg of the Triple Crown is the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup on 23 May and, if successful stepping up to 12 furlongs in three months' time, he could become the second horse after River Verdon in the 1993/94 racing season to win the Triple Crown.

Horse of the Year Exultant battled into third place under Zac Purton, while Glorious Dragon sealed fourth under Matthew Poon behind him, the second of the Lui-trained runners.

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Callaghan: ‘Lots Of Blue Sky Ahead’ For San Felipe Candidate Roman Centurian

Roman Centurian was beaten 12 ¼ lengths by Life Is Good in his debut race last Nov. 22, but after an impressive maiden win and a bang-up second by a neck to Medina Spirit in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30, Simon Callaghan is gearing up the son of Empire Maker for another go at Life Is Good in the G2 San Felipe Stakes on March 6.

“He's a very talented horse and I think the San Felipe will be a very interesting race,” said Callaghan, who conditions Roman Centurian for breeders Don Alberto Corporation, which also owns the colt along with Qatar Racing Limited. He was a $550,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September Sale.

“I think the San Felipe will reveal a lot, but again, Roman Centurian is a very good horse. I'm happy with him and looking forward to the race.”

Juan Hernandez, who rode Roman Centurian in the Lewis, will be back aboard in the San Felipe, Callaghan said.

Hernandez was in the irons today for a five-furlong workout in 1:00.40. “I was very happy,” Callaghan said. “It was a typical breeze for him. He moved good and finished up really well.”

Roman Centurian had an eventful trip in the 1 1/16-mile Lewis, trailing in the field of six after a half-mile, going five wide into the stretch, and bumping third-place finisher Hot Rod Charlie at the eighth pole.

According to the Equibase chart, Roman Centurian “could not get by the winner,” Medina Spirit, who, like Life Is Good, is trained by Bob Baffert.

“I think he's always going to have that style of closing,” Callaghan said, “but he definitely covered more ground in the Lewis and was kind of bumped; that didn't help him.

“It's five weeks from the Lewis to the San Felipe so we're going to see some progression in our horse. There's lots of blue sky ahead of him.”

The San Felipe is a major steppingstone to the Grade I, $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3 and offers 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, 20 to the runner-up, 10 to the third-place finisher and five to the fourth. The race was won last year by Authentic, who would go on to be named Horse of the Year.

Life Is Good is the 7-1 individual favorite in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wagering, while Roman Centurian is listed at 41-1. The mutuel field is favored at 3-1.

Roman Centurian calls Santa Anita home along with fellow Triple Crown hopefuls Life Is Good, Freedom Fighter, Medina Spirit and Concert Tour for Baffert; Dream Shake for Peter Eurton; and Hot Rod Charlie and The Great One for Doug O'Neill.

Also working Saturday morning were Medina Spirit (six furlongs in a bullet 1:12.40); San Vicente winner Concert Tour (four furlongs in 47.20); and Louisiana Derby-bound Hot Rod Charlie and San Felipe contender The Great One (five furlongs in 1:02 and 1:01.20, breezing, respectively).

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Charmaine’s Mia Takes Buena Vista On The Stretch-Out For D’Amato

Relegated to sprinting in her last 21 starts, trainer Phil D'Amato's Charmaine's Mia handled a stretch-out to one mile on turf with aplomb on Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as she pressed the early pace en route to a one-length score in the Grade 2, $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes. Ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, she got the distance in 1:33.93.

With longshot Bohemian Bourbon fully committed to a front-running trip, Charmaine's Mia, who was an impressive 2 ½-length winner of the G3 Las Cienegas Stakes at six furlongs on turf Jan. 9, sat a close second to the quarter pole, where she took command and then held multiple graded stakes winning Mucho Unusual safe in the final sixteenth of a mile.

“She broke sharp,” said Prat, who collected his third win on the afternoon. “She's really fast out of the gate and I wanted to be on the lead, but the inside horse (Bohemian Bourbon) was pulling very hard, so we were second, which was as good place to be. When we made the lead at the quarter pole, she got a good breather and from there, she finished really well.”

Formerly based in Toronto at Woodbine, Charmaine's Mia was off at 16-1 in the Las Cienegas, which was her Southern California debut and first start for D'Amato. Heavily backed today at 6-5 in a field of nine older fillies and mares, she paid $4.60, $3.00 and $2.40.

“It's huge, Flavien said there's more in the tank,” said D'Amato. “She rated nice. If she needed to go a little further, it wasn't a problem. So that definitely broadens her horizons and maybe has us starting to look at Grade I's.”

Owned by Agave Racing Stable and Rockin Robin Racing Stables, Charmaine's Mia, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by The Factor out of the Bernstein mare Charming Vixen, notched her second graded stakes victory and improved her overall mark to 27-6-4-2. With the winner's take of $120,000, she increased her earnings to $352,976.

Trainer Tim Yakteen's Mucho Unusual, who was mid-pack early, put in a solid late run but ran out of real estate while finishing three quarters of a length in front of Warren's Showtime. A winner of two consecutive graded stakes at the current meeting, she was the second choice at 7-2 and paid $4.20 and $3.00 with Abel Cedillo up.

Consistent Warren's Showtime, who had three horses beat heading into the far turn, put in a solid late bid as well, but was third best on the day under Juan Hernandez. Off at 5-1, she paid $3.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.65, 45.93, 1:09.75 and 1:21.75.

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