Better With Age: 8-Year-Old Bombard Digs In For Daytona Stakes Score

Quick from the gate and head and head to deep stretch with speedy Law Abidin Citizen, heavily favored Bombard simply wouldn't be denied in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Daytona Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as he prevailed by 1 ¼ lengths under Flavien Prat.  Trained by Richard Mandella, the 8-year-old gelding by War Front got 6 ½ furlongs on turf in 1:14.47.

Most recently second in a tough classified allowance going six furlongs on turf at Santa Anita on April 25 and only beaten 3 ¼ lengths two starts back in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, Bombard added blinkers for the first time in this his 18th career start and notched his first-ever graded stakes victory at a point in life where most of his classmates have been retired.

“He's as good as he's ever been, for sure,” said Mandella.  “I don't race him much, he's got a few problems that we have to take care of, but he comes back and he pays us back.  We'll keep doing that as long as he's having a good time and so are we.”

Off as the 3-5 favorite in a field of five older horses, Bombard paid $3.40, $2.80 and $2.10.

“He broke really well and put himself in the race,” said Prat, who has now ridden by Bombard to a total of five victories.  “I don't think the blinkers had anything to do with his race.  I love to win.”

Owned by Perry Bass II, Ramona Bass, Adele Dilschneider and Waddell Hancock II, Bombard, who is out of the Distorted Humor mare Witty, was making his second start of the year and is now 18-6-6-2.  With the winner's share of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $459,771.

Idle since Aug. 29, Law Abidin Citizen finally threw in the towel a sixteenth out, enabling others to secure the minor placings.

Last for nearly the entire trip, Majestic Eagle unfurled a good stretch run to take second by a head over French-bred Commander.  Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Majestic Eagle was off at 9-1 and paid $6.00 and $2.80.

Commander, who sat third most of the trip, finished third by a length and quarter and paid $2.80 to show while off at 6-1 with Juan Hernandez.

Law Abidin Citizen, a multiple graded stakes winner, was ridden by Abel Cedillo and held fourth by a nose over Jamming Eddy.

Fractions on the race were 21.63, 44.17 and 1:08.13.

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Summertime Oaks: McPeek Hoping For Cleaner Trip For Crazy Beautiful

Kenny McPeek, who captured the 2020 Santa Anita Oaks with that year's Eclipse Award champion 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver, seeks another Oaks victory at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Sunday in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks with Crazy Beautiful, who, like Swiss Skydiver, will be ridden by Mike Smith.

Crazy Beautiful, a gray daughter of Liam's Map, is coming off a disappointing but eventful 10th-place finish against 12 rivals in the G1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30, when she was seriously impeded at the start.

“It was a pretty good case of bumper cars,” McPeek said by phone from Churchill Downs. “She got kind of mangled leaving there and again in the middle of the race. It seemed like nothing went right.

“Obviously, there will be a lot less traffic on Sunday (with five horses going 1 1/16 miles) than her last race. She's a classy filly who's already won a Grade 2 (the Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, prior to the Kentucky Oaks), so we felt like this was a good spot for her. We're excited to hopefully getting her back to her winning ways.”

With McPeek busy back east with the likes of Swiss Skydiver, who runs in the G1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park on June 5, Crazy Beautiful is being cared for at Santa Anita by trainer Karen Headley.

“Bruce (Karen's late father) and Karen are longtime friends,” McPeek said. “I've shipped into their barns for years. She'll saddle her and handle all the details.”

Bruce Headley was a charismatic and colorful trainer whose most accomplished runner was Kona Gold, Eclipse Award champion sprinter of 2000. He set a six-furlong track record of 1:07.77 that year winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs.

“The old man was a great guy,” McPeek said. “I always had a lot of respect for him as a horseperson.”

The Summertime Oaks is race eight of nine with a 1 p.m. first post time: Lady Aces, Umberto Rispoli, 4-1; Crazy Beautiful, Mike Smith, 6-5; $4,000 supplemental entry Plum Sexy, Abel Cedillo, 20-1; Soothsay, Flavien Prat, 4-5; and Absolute Scenes, Trevor McCarthy, 50-1.

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$1,297 Payoff Despite Low-Odds Winners In Friday’s Stronach 5

There were 79 winning tickets in Friday's Stronach 5 with each returning $1,297.70.

The Stronach 5 featured races from Pimlico Race Course, Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields and Gulfstream Park as well as an industry-low 12-percent takeout. Four of the five winners returned under $10 with the longest shot in the sequence going off at $6.90-1.

The Stronach 5 began with Pimlico's ninth race, a mile claiming event on the turf won by My Man Pots N Pans ($9.60) for trainer Kelly Rubley. Santa Anita's third race was next, an allowance event at six furlongs on the turf for fillies and mares that featured a heavy favorite in Lalic. The 4-year-old filly didn't disappoint at 6-5 for a $4.60 return.

Golden Gate's third race, the third leg of the Stronach 5, featured eight 2-year-olds going five furlongs after two late scratches. The winner was the 6-1 shot Love Candy ($15.80), a son of Danzing Candy trained by Ed Moger Jr.

The Stronach 5 concluded with two races from Gulfstream Park. In the eighth race, a turf event for allowance optional claimers at a mile, it was Drapes ($9), a daughter of American Pharoah, going to the winner's circle under jockey Edwin Gonzalez. In the ninth race, the final sequence of the Stronach 5, it was the 3-5 favorite Izhefrosted ($3.40) going gate-to-wire for an easy win.

Friday's races and sequence

  • Leg One –Pimlico 9th Race: My Man Pots N Pans $9.60
  • Leg Two –Santa Anita 3rd Race: Lalic $4.60
  • Leg Three –Golden Gate 3rd Race: Love Candy $15.80
  • Leg Four –Gulfstream Park 8th Race: Drapes $9
  • Leg Five –Gulfstream 9th Race: Ishefrosted $3.40

 Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, andGoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

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Streaking Charmaine’s Mia Bidding For First Grade 1 In Gamely

Phil D'Amato's streaking Charmaine's Mia, in search of her fourth consecutive graded stakes win, heads a field of nine fillies and mares 3 and up in Monday's Grade 1, $300,000 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.  To be contested at 1 1/8 miles on turf, the Gamely, originally held at Hollywood Park, will be run for the 58th time on Monday.

One of three Grade 1 stakes, the Gamely could be the best betting race on a nine-race Memorial Day program, which kicks off with first post time at 1 p.m. PT.

The Richard Baltas-trained Going to Vegas and Brendan Walsh's French-bred La Signare lend considerable depth to the Gamely, which was won last year by Jonathan Wong's longshot Keeper Ofthe Stars, who will also suit up for this year's renewal.

A 2 ½-length winner of the G3, six-furlong turf Las Cienegas Stakes in her first start for D'Amato three races back on Jan. 9, Charmaine's Mia stretched out to victories going a mile on grass in both the G2 Buena Vista Stakes Feb. 20 and Royal Heroine on April 3.  Off as the 3-5 favorite in the Royal Heroine, Charmaine's Mia was in complete gate to wire control, winning by a half length.

A 5-year-old mare by top sprinter The Factor, Charmaine's Mia, who had been based at Woodbine Race Course prior to joining D'Amato's stable late last year, had only been around two turns once prior to winning the Buena Vista in what was her 26th career start.

Owned by Agave Racing Stable, Medallion Racing and Rockin Robin Racing Stables, Charmaine's Mia, who will be ridden for the third consecutive time by Flavien Prat, has earned three consecutive Beyer Speed Figures of 99, an overall mark of 28-7-4-2 and earnings of $472,976.

Ridden for the first time by Umberto Rispoli and a runaway 3 ¾-length winner of the G3 Santa Ana Stakes at a mile and one quarter on grass March 27, Going to Vegas appears to be in the best form of her career for Baltas and owners Abbondanza Racing, LLC, Medallion Racing and MyRacehorse.

With Rispoli set to ride her back, Going to Vegas, a 4-year-old filly by Goldencents, was claimed for $50,000 nine starts back, seeks her second stakes victory in the Gamely.  With an overall mark of 18-4-8-2, she has earnings of $283,751.

Third, beaten 2 ¼ lengths over a yielding turf in the G1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland April 10, 6-year-old La Signare seeks her first graded stakes win since taking a G3 at 1 1/8 miles on grass at Belmont Park on June 7, 2018.  Often close but a winner of just one out of 13 starts since then, La Signare appears to be a dedicated deep closer that would certainly benefit from a lively pace.  Owned by Madaket Stables, LLC, Tim and Anna Cambron and Bradley Thoroughbreds, La Signare, who will be ridden for the first time by Mike Smith, is 17-3-2-4 overall with earnings of $345,576.

GRADE 1 GAMELY STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS
IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 9   Approximate post time 5 p.m. PT

  1. La Signare—Mike Smith—122
  2. Charmaine's Mia—Flavien Prat—124
  3. Raymundos Secret—Mario Gutierrez—124
  4. Going to Vegas—Umberto Rispoli—122
  5. Red Lark—Ricardo Gonzalez—124
  6. Keeper Ofthe Stars—Abel Cedillo—122
  7. Maxim Rate—Juan Hernandez—124
  8. Stela Star—Jose Valdivia, Jr.—122
  9. Bodhicitta—Trevor McCarthy—124

First post time for a nine-race card on Monday is at 1 p.m.  For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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