Simon Callaghan | Horse Racing Free Tips

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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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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Medina Spirit Emerges With Narrow Victory In Robert B. Lewis Stakes

In a gutty gate to wire performance, Medina Spirit fought off all challengers to take Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes by a neck and thus stamped himself a top tier Derby hopeful for Bob Baffert. Owned by Zedan Racing Stables, Inc. and ridden by Abel Cedillo, Medina Spirit got 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.26 over a Santa Anita main track listed as “good” due to recent rains that deposited 2.4 inches of rain through noon on Friday.

Sent to the lead while head and head with Parnelli and Wipe the Slate into the clubhouse turn, Medina Spirit was pressed up the backside by Wipe the Slate, who was three quarters of length back three furlongs out. With a length advantage at the top of the stretch, Medina Spirit drifted out a bit and was immediately engaged by Hot Rod Charlie and Roman Centurian in a thrilling three-horse battle to the wire. Baffert's other entrant, Spielberg, finished fourth.

The top four finishers earned 10-4-2-1 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

“He's a very game horse,” said Cedillo, who collected his third win on the day and who has now ridden the Florida-bred colt by Protonico in all three of his races. “At the quarter pole, I didn't know, but he looked around and when he saw those horses, he kept going. He didn't get tired at all. On the gallop out (after the wire), he was by himself.”

A close second to highly regarded stablemate Life is Good going one mile in the G3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 2, Medina Spirit was heavily backed as the even-money favorite in a field of six sophomores and paid $4.00, $2.80 and $2.20.

“That reminded me a little bit of Silver Charm (1997 Kentucky Derby winner),” said Baffert, who rung up his record ninth Lewis win today. “He had every reason to give it up late in the stretch (when) those horses came to him. I thought he was beat. I thought they were going to get by and he wouldn't let them by, he fought on.

“…We just have to keep him healthy. It's a really tiring track, he went real fast early, but he showed that he had the qualities there. It's nice to win the Robert B. Lewis because it means so much to me. I would have liked my other horse (fourth place finisher Spielberg) to run better than he did, but those things happen.”

A first-out maiden winner going 5 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos Dec. 11, Medina Spirit, who is out of the Brilliant Speed mare Mongolian Changa, was sold for just $35,000 at public auction last July after being purchased for $1,000 as a yearling – both sales at Ocala Breeders' Sales Company. With today's winnings of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $95,200 from three starts.

Trained by Simon Callaghan, Roman Centurian, an impressive 1 1/16 mile maiden winner on Jan. 3, was last early and rallied resolutely while caught five wide turning for home to best Hot Rod Charlie by a nose for second money. Off at 11-1 with Juan Hernandez, Roman Centurian paid $7.60 and $3.80.

A close second in the Grade I Breeders' Cup Juvenile Nov. 6, Doug O'Neill's Hot Rod Charlie ran huge off the bench, finishing 11 lengths clear of Spielberg. Ridden by Joel Rosario, Hot Rod Charlie was the second choice at 5-2 and paid $2.60 to show.

Fractions on the race, all set by the winner, were 22.89, 46.61, 1:12.36 and 1:39.34.

Named in honor of the late Thoroughbred owner and philanthropist Robert B. Lewis, who along with his wife Beverly, owned two Kentucky Derby winners, Silver Charm in 1997 and Charismatic in 1999, the Lewis winner receives 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with four to second, two to third and one point to the fourth place finisher.

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Chilean Star Brooke ‘Training Forwardly’ For U.S. Debut In Santa Anita’s Megahertz

Brooke, a Chilean-bred mare who was a monster in her native country, gong off as the odds-on favorite in six of her seven races while winning five, makes her United States debut in Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday feature, the Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

“She's been training very forwardly,” said Simon Callaghan, who conditions the 5-year-old chestnut for the Don Alberto Stable. “I've had her for three or four months. The owners thought she would like the firm turf in California, which is why they sent her here.

“Hopefully she can add to her resume.”

Brooke will once again be ridden by jockey Jeremy Laprida, who has been aboard in each of her eight career starts, including her most recent, a ninth-place finish in a field of 17 on a heavy turf course at one mile in Argentina's Group 2 Longines Cup last March 20.

“He's ridden her in Chile and the owners wanted him for her first race here,” Callaghan said of Laprida, who has ridden in the U.S. at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa., 19 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

Megahertz was a diminutive chestnut mare bred in England who gained popularity with racing fans thanks her small size and big stretch runs against top company.

Trained by the late Bobby Frankel for owner Michael Bello, Megahertz was a multiple graded stakes winner on turf compiling a 14-6-5 record from 34 starts, earning $2,261,594.

The Megahertz is for fillies and mares four and up at one mile on turf. It is race seven of nine with a 12:30 p.m. Pacific first post time.

The field: Brooke, Jeremy Laprida, 4-1; $2,000 supplemental nominee Colonial Creed, Flavien Prat, 7-2; $2,000 supplemental nominee Lucky Peridot, Abel Cedillo, 8-1; Mucho Unusual, Joel Rosario, 9-5; Hippodamia's Girl, Juan Hernandez, 8-1; andSedamar, Umberto Rispoli, 5-2.

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