Undefeated and unchallenged Flightline, a horse on everybody's radar, continued to prepare for his 4-year-old debut in Santa Anita's Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes March 5, working a half-mile at the Arcadia, Calif., track on Sunday in :47.80 under Juan Leyva.
Former jockey Leyva is assistant trainer to John Sadler, who conditions the undefeated son of Tapit, winner of the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu Stakes by 11 ½ lengths on Dec. 26 and his three races to date by a combined margin of 37 ½ lengths.
“He went very well, looked super, as good as he's ever looked, going a half-mile in 47 and four and (galloping) out (five furlongs) in a minute flat, effortlessly,” Sadler said.
“We're right on track for the San Carlos (at seven furlongs, the same distance as the Malibu).”
As to Flightline's growing reputation, Sadler said, “I don't think it would be braggadocios to say he obviously is on everybody's radar in racing, because he looks like such an exceptional horse.”
As dominant as he is in his races, Sadler said the $1 million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase is a sweetheart under the shed row.
“He's nice around the barn,” Sadler said. “He can be tough on the race track, but around the barn he's very nice.”
It's full steam ahead for C R K Stable's Express Train as he ran perhaps the best race of his career in winning the Grade 2, $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes for the second year in a row and stamped himself a primary contender for the Grade 1, $650,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5 at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Trained by John Shirreffs and ridden by Victor Espinoza, Express Train, who was in the thick of a hot early pace duel, powered to a 3 ¼-length victory while covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.99.
With Eight Rings breaking on top, Express Train, along with both American Theorem and Law Professor, were in hot pursuit in the run to the Club House turn. With American Theorem taken back off the dueling leaders at the seven-furlong pole, Express Train settled into a nice rhythm with Law Professor to his outside in the run to the far turn.
John Velazquez, aboard Eight Rings, stepped on the gas three furlongs out, but Express Train was just three quarters of a length back and he enjoyed a one length edge at the quarter pole. At that point, Law Professor loomed ominously turning for home, but Express Train was able to shrug off the challenge approaching the furlong marker in a huge effort.
“It got a little complicated out of the gate because I thought the two horses outside of me were going to go and make the pace,” said Espinoza. “Then the one (longshot Kiss Today Goodbye) decided to take back…So that kind of made my decision to go forward and stay there rather than be stuck on the inside. It's all about the horses too. Express Train, he helped me to move with such confidence at that point that I was not afraid to just let him go.
“I think the last time (a nose victory in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes Dec. 26), he won but he was not 100 percent, because he had a little time off in between that race. But now, he's ready to go. I had the opportunity to come and work him a couple times…Coming into this race I was confident but in the race, anything can happen. Things got a little complicated, but we resolved them quick.”
The 8-5 favorite in a field of six older horses, Express Train, a 5-year-old horse by Union Rags, paid $5.20, $2.80 and $2.10.
Owned by Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable, LLC, Express Train, who is out of the Mineshaft mare I'm a Flake, registered his fourth graded stakes win and improved his overall mark to 16-6-4-3. With the winner's take of $120,000, he increased his earnings to $935,800.
“I think this was a little bit more difficult for him,” said Shirreffs, when asked to compare Express Train's win today with his triumph in the 2021 San Pasqual. “There was lot going on early with the fast pace…Nobody got to relax because Mike's horse (Smith, aboard American Theorem) came up on the outside and wanted to force the pace so it was do or die time then. We're looking forward to the Big 'Cap.”
Trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Juan Hernandez, Law Professor, who came into the race off a big win in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Mathis Mile Dec. 26, looked as though he'd give the winner all he wanted, but couldn't go with him the final three sixteenths of a mile. Off at 4-1, he paid $4.20 and $2.60 while finishing 2 ½ lengths in front of early leader Eight Rings.
Ridden by John Velazquez, Eight Rings, the 2-1 favorite, paid $2.40 to show while finishing three quarters of a length in front of stablemate Spielberg.
Fractions on the race were 22.72, 47.16, 1:11.75 and 1:37.32.
First post time for a nine-race card, which will include two graded stakes on Sunday, is at 12:30 p.m. Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m.
The defending champ but a decided underdog, Merneith went to the front, shook off a challenge from heavily favored Ce Ce and went on to a powerful three-length win in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes under Edwin Maldonado. Trained by Bob Baffert, the 5-year-old daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah got seven furlongs in 1:22.39 over the Santa Anita oval in Arcadia, Calif.
Fresh off a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar Nov. 6, Ce Ce was the overwhelming 1-2 favorite but was no match for Merneith when the real running commenced leaving the quarter pole.
“I'm very happy,” said Maldonado, who was aboard for last year's Santa Monica win and who registered his eighth win at the meet, which puts him in tie for seventh in the jockey standings. “I just want to thank Bob for leaving me on her…It means a lot to me.
“I was just letting her do everything on her own, I didn't want to take anything away from her. When (Ce Ce) came (to) her, she saw her and picked it up on her own. I didn't even have to ask her. I'm very pleased…When we turned for home, I was pretty sure she was the winner. I didn't even ask her until she switched leads. She's a nice filly.”
Idle since last year's Santa Monica on Feb. 13, Merneith came back to run second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths in the ungraded Kalookan Queen Stakes on Jan. 2 and was off as the 5-2 second choice today in a field of five older fillies and mares, returning $7.60, $2.80 and $2.10.
“She won this race last year and she needed her last race,” said Baffert, who now has a meet-leading six stakes wins. “Edwin gets along with her great and it was a perfect pace for her…I've always thought highly of her. She got to prove it today, she beat a good field of fillies. I'm so proud of her. You get attached to these fillies, especially (when they're by) American Pharoah.”
Owned by HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud, Merneith, in notching her second graded stakes victory, improved her overall mark to 12-5-4-2. With the winner's share of $120,000, she increased her earnings to $493,620.
Ce Ce, who broke well and appeared to be in perfect position while third, about 1 ½ lengths off the winner three furlongs out, appeared to draw within a neck at the top of the lane, but was unable to get on terms as Merneith seemed to find another gear.
Trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Victor Espinoza, Ce Ce, who according to owner/breeder Bo Hirsch, will run through her 6-year-old year, paid $2.10 and $2.10 while finishing 3 ¾ lengths in front of Kalypso.
Kalypso, who broke from the rail, checked in third, 5 ½ lengths better than Park Avenue. Trained by Baffert and ridden by John Velazquez, Kalypso was off at 9-2 and paid $2.10 to show.
Fractions, all set by the winner, were 22.39, 45.75 and 1:09.98.
After being victimized by Bleecker Street's whirlwind rally in the Grade 3, $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf, Emma-Jayne Wilson – the jockey on beaten favorite Lady Speightspeare – was ready to turn the tables on someone at Tampa Bay Downs.
Two races later, in the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for males on the turf, Wilson set Lady Speightspeare's stablemate Shirl's Speight loose in the stretch, and the 5-year-old horse responded by running down the race's defending champion, pace-setter Get Smokin, by a length-and-a-half.
“That's horse racing, in a nutshell,” Wilson said after 9-1 shot Shirl's Speight's victory for breeder-owner Charles Fipke and trainer Roger Attfield in 1:41.20 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth. “There are many ups and downs, and you've just got to ride the wave.
“When good horses come around, they'll show their stuff when the time is right.”
The two stakes races were the centerpiece of a spellbinding “Turf Champions Day” card under overcast skies that resulted in long-shots aplenty visiting the winner's circle (including Bleecker Street and Shirl's Speight, although their payoffs were minuscule in comparison to several others).
In the 23rd running of the Endeavour, the sixth race on the card, Wilson was sitting pretty on the lead on Lady Speightspeare at the eighth pole when unbeaten 4-year-old filly Bleecker Street – whose previous victory here on Jan. 8 came in a conditional allowance/optional claiming event – showed her stuff and then some, accelerating from mid-pack under jockey Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., for a convincing length-and-a-half triumph.
The victory was the first graded-stakes triumph for the 32-year-old Diaz, who might feel like he's uncovered the key to buried treasure after trainer Chad Brown stuck with him following his three previous victories aboard Bleecker Street.
“She never gave me that turn of foot before,” Diaz said of today's performance by the Peter M. Brant-owned filly, now 4-for-4. “Not like that. Today was her best race, by far. The effort she put in was great. I have to thank God and Chad and his entire crew for this opportunity. They've done an amazing job with this filly. I knew she had to prove herself today against these kind of horses, but I was confident she could do it.
“I saw that green light in the stretch and she just took off, and the rest is history.”
The victory was the fourth in the Endeavour's 23-year history for Brown, more than any other conditioner. Bleecker Street posted a time of 1:41.91 on the firm turf course.
“She has won all four times coming off the pace, and being able to work out a trip like that every time is very difficult to do,” Brown said via telephone. “He (Diaz) has ridden her all four times, and I'm very proud of him.
“She had a good post (No. 2), the trip worked out real well and she showed a super turn of foot through the stretch. This filly took time to come around, and my whole staff has done an unbelievable job with her. And Mr. Brant is so patient. We scratched In Italian from the race this morning because we thought bringing her back inside a month was a little soon for her, and we didn't want to run them against each other.
“She (Bleecker Street) stepped up and it turned out to be the right call,” added Brown, who later won the Grade III Withers for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct with Early Voting.
Wilson was disappointed to get beat, but offered no excuses. “Chad's horses have a tendency of doing that to you,” Wilson said. ”I wouldn't give (Lady Speightspeare) any excuses. She had everything go as well as it could. We had a good run at it – we were just second-best.”
Stunning Princess finished third and Jezebel's Kitten was fourth. Bleecker Street paid $16 to win.
The way Get Smokin was sailing along under jockey Antonio Gallardo in the Tampa Bay Stakes, it appeared everyone was running for second at the top of the lane. The 5-year-old gelding hadn't been asked much approaching the stretch in his first start since June 20, but Wilson sensed she was sitting on a powder keg.
“I was interested to see how the pace was going to set up,” Wilson said of Shirl's Speight's performance. “Last time (a Jan. 15 victory here under Gallardo in an allowance/optional claiming race), he was a little keen, but today he settled off the pace nice and the way they kind of ran away from him early, I just wanted to make sure he relaxed and got into position where he was comfortable.”
Reserved near mid-pack, Shirl's Speight was asked for his best when Wilson tipped him out wide and kept to his task to record his second lifetime Grade 3 victory. Floriform finished third and English Bee was fourth.
“I had to thread the needle a little down the lane, but good horses will overcome adversity and he shot through there like he was shot out of a cannon,” Wilson said. “Roger is a Hall of Famer, and he knows how to have them primed and ready.”
Attfield, in fact, is a member of both the U.S. and Canadian Horse Racing Halls of Fame, a status shared by Get Smokin's trainer, Mark Casse.
“We've lost a lot to Roger. He's a wonderful guy and a class act, and good for him,” Casse said.
Attfield had both of his horses ready for top efforts and was thrilled to come away with a victory and a second.
“It (the Tampa Bay Stakes) was a beautiful race, no question,” he said. “I liked the way he did it today – I don't really want him to be speed all the time, but he's got a lot of speed. (Wilson) rode him very well. I definitely thought (Get Smokin) was the horse to beat.
“And our filly (Lady Speightspeare) ran very well for everything she has been through, so it's been a good day.”
