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Bezos May Be Ready For Prime Time After Stylish Maiden Win At Santa Anita

Highly regarded Bezos, Triple Crown nominated but late to the party, fought off a stiff challenge from his stablemate Fenway turning for home and promptly asserted his dominance, as he waltzed to a 4 ½ length win in Friday's $61,000 Santa Anita maiden special weight feature at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, Bezos got a flat mile in 1:37.64.

“We missed the window, we were trying to get him there (Derby trail), but he's a beautiful horse,” said Baffert. “This was good what he did today. Going two turns, that's gonna be his game, so he'll develop. We'll just let him develop on his own now. We're not in a hurry now.

“Fenway… he ran his race, but he's definitely a one-turn horse. I think he'll go a one turn mile.”

Well beaten in his 6 ½ furlong debut at odds of 3-5 on Feb. 7, Bezos was sent from the gate by Prat and traded punches with Fenway on the front end through splits of 22.98, 46.37, 1:10.83 and 1:23.85.

Ridden for the first time by Prat, Bezos was off as the 7-5 favorite in a field of six sophomores and paid $4.80, $2.80 and $2.10.

Purchased for $400,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling, Bezos is owned by SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm, LLC and Robert Masterson, picked up $36,600 for the win. A striking physical specimen, Bezos is by Empire Maker out of the A.P. Indy mare A P Mink.

Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, There Goes Harvard was on the move while 1 ½ lengths off the lead three furlongs out, but never threatened the winner the final quarter mile. Trained by Michael McCarthy, There Goes Harvard was off as the 2-1 second choice and paid $3.20 and $2.20 while finishing 2 ¼ lengths better than Fenway.

Ridden by Mike Smith, Fenway, in his fourth career start, was the third choice at 2-1 and paid $2.40 to show while finishing a half length in front of Vantage Point.

Bezos provided Prat with his third win on the card and in race seven and he would notch his fourth of the day aboard Shes'a Perfectlady — giving him a meet-leading 72 wins, 24 better than runner-up Juan Hernandez.

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 1 p.m.

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Buzzed-About Bezos Shows Up at Second Asking

6th-Santa Anita, $61,500, Msw, 3-26, 3yo, 1m, 1:37.64, ft, 4 1/2 lengths.
BEZOS (c, 3, Empire Maker–A P Mink, by A.P. Indy) failed to live up to the immense hype when seventh at 3-5 behind 'TDN Rising Star' Dream Shake (Twirling Candy) sprinting here Feb. 7, but he made good on the buzz this time while getting more ground to work with. Shedding the blinkers this time, the handsome bay was off at 7-5 in the field of five. Away well from the rail, Bezos took the lead into the first bend from stablemate Fenway (Into Mischief). He doled out an opening quarter in :22.98, and was passed by Fenway down the backside through a :46.37 half. Bezos took back over entering the lane, and found no new challengers from there to don cap and gown by 4 1/2 lengths. There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge) completed the exacta. “We missed the window, we were trying to get him there [to the GI Kentucky Derby], but he's a beautiful horse,” said trainer Bob Baffert. “This was good what he did today. Going two turns, that's gonna be his game, so he'll develop. We'll just let him develop on his own now. We're not in a hurry now.” The winner hails from the female family of GSWs Palmeiro (Pleasant Tap), Dynaslew (Dynaformer) and Shotski (Blame). His dam was bred to Competitive Edge for 2021. Sales history: $190,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $400,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $37,100. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm LLC & Robert E. Masterson; B-Grousemont Farm (KY); T-Bob Baffert.

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O’Neill Hoping The Great One Can ‘Rebound’ In Santa Anita Derby

Doug O'Neill hopes The Great One rebounds from his disappointing fifth-place finish behind recently sidelined Life Is Good in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 6 when he runs in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby next Saturday, April 3.

Named for NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky, The Great One was coming off a smashing 14-length maiden win prior to the San Felipe, in which he finished almost 17 lengths behind Life Is Good after bumping a rival at the start and going four-wide into the stretch before weakening.

“The Great One is scheduled to work tomorrow and as long as that goes well and he comes out of it in good shape, that's the plan,” said O'Neil, who posted back-to-back Santa Anita Derby victories with eventual Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another in 2012 and Goldencents in 2013.

“Abel (Cedillo) will be back on him and we're excited about getting another chance against these caliber of horses,” O'Neill said. 'We're real happy with The Great One and think he can rebound and run a big race.”

Team O'Neill obviously was delighted with Hot Rod Charlie's dominant triumph in the Louisiana Derby on March 20. The son of Oxbow will train up to the Run for the Roses, which the trainer also won in 2016 with Nyquist, 2020's leading freshman sire.

“He's back here at Santa Anita and looks great,” O'Neill said of Hot Rod Charlie. “We're optimistic about the first Saturday in May with him.”

The Runhappy Santa Anita Derby headlines six stakes next Saturday, four of them graded and two showcasing California-bred or sired runners.

In addition to the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, they are the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles; the Grade 2 Royal Heroine for fillies and mares four and up at one mile on turf; and the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Also, two Golden State Series races, the $150,000 Echo Eddie Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 ½ furlongs and the $150,000 Evening Jewel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 ½ furlongs.

In all, the six stakes offer $1,750,000 in purse money.

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Stronach 5 Highlighted By Turf Races From Santa Anita, Gulfstream

The Stronach 5 will feature five competitive races from four tracks along with an industry-low 12-percent takeout when it begins at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Continuing to show a strong return on investment, Laurel's eighth race begins this week's Stronach 5, a starter allowance at 1 1/16 mile with a tepid 7-2 favorite in King Mauro trained by Michael Gorham and ridden by Sheldon Russell. The gelding looks for his third consecutive victory after beating $8,000 claimers in his last by four. Trainer John Robb saddles Belfour, 3-1, making his first start since Jan. 17 Belfour owns eight victories at Laurel and Robb has saddled 15 winners at the meet.

The ninth race at Laurel serves as the second leg of the sequence. The maiden $40,000 claimer at six furlongs is a wide-open affair with Country Life Farm's Mosler's Touch entering off a second-place finish last time out against similar company. Trainer Kelly Rubley sends out Likely Choice, who caught a sloppy track last out when finishing seventh. Linda Rice ships Amendment Nineteen in from Belmont for her debut.

The Stronach 5 heads west for the third and fourth legs. Santa Anita's third race, a mile turf event for claiming fillies and mares, has a 2-1 choice in Acoustic Shadow and two horses listed at 5-2 on the morning-line in Amiko Chow and Unbreakable. Acoustic Shadow missed by a head in trying to break her maiden Jan. 15 when claimed for $45,000 by Philip D'Amato. Amiko Chow and Unbreakable finished second and third, respectively, beaten less than a length Feb. 21 against similar claiming company.

Golden Gate's third race, the fourth leg of the sequence, features 3-year-old maiden claimers going five furlongs. Evenerevenworse is the 2-1 choice coming off a second-place finish March 5 at 5 ½ furlongs. Emperor's Fisc (9-2) finished third in his second career start Feb. 13, a race in which the runner-up came back to win.

The Stronach 5 wraps up at Gulfstream with the 10th race, a $35,000 maiden claimer at 1 1/16 mile for 3-year-old fillies. Leading trainer Todd Pletcher sends out Zaffing, who drops a bit in company after finishing fourth on the turf Feb. 28. Short Circuit gets the rail after a third-place finish against similar company last time out. Family Time returns to the turf for trainer Dale Romans.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One – Laurel Park 8th Race: (10 entries – 1 1/16 mile) 4:30 ET, 1:30 PT
Leg Two – Laurel Park 9th Race: (11 entries – 6 furlongs) 5:03 ET, 2:03 PT
Leg Three –Santa Anita Park 3rd Race: (9 entries – 1-mile turf) 5:08 ET, 2:08 PT
Leg Four –Golden Gate Field 3rd Race: (10 entries – 5 furlongs) 5:29 ET, 2:29 PT
Leg Five –Gulfstream Park 10th Race: (10 entries – 1 1/16-mile turf) 5:54 ET, 2:54 PT

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, and GoldenGateFields.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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