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Gretzky Namesake The Great One Being Pointed Toward March 6 San Felipe

Wow!

The exclamations were still relevant at Santa Anita on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after The Great One demolished a field of maidens with a 14-length triumph in Saturday's second race, a one-mile event at the Arcadia, Calif., track that likely will lead to the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 6.

Doug O'Neill plans to “monitor the colt and then huddle up with the boys (owners)” before making a decision

“That's probably the logical spot right now,” said O'Neill, who trains the Louisiana-bred son of his 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist for an ownership group that includes the Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson's ERJ Racing, LLC, thus the colt's name.

“Erik named him for Wayne Gretzky, one of Eric's idols growing up,” O'Neill said, clarifying that the $185,000 Ocala Breeders' Sales purchase was not named after the late Jackie Gleason, a multi-talented actor, comedian, writer, composer and conductor deservingly known affectionately as “The Great One.”

“Erik and Wayne are friends,” O'Neill added, “so it's pretty cool.”

Gretzky, lest we forget, holds a host of hockey records that would fill a goalie's net, and is not only considered by many the greatest hockey player of all-time, but in some quarters, the greatest athlete of all time, justifying his nickname, “The Great One.”

Gretzky, who turns 60 on Monday, Jan. 25, spent the majority of his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings. His next shot on goal was always a high priority as he adhered to the credo, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

Even O'Neill was surprised by the ease with which The Great One broke his maiden.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “You never figure on winning like that. Your main focus is just trying to get him to the wire first. You never figure they're going to win by 14, although he had been training really, really well. Each race had been better than the previous one.

“Since we added blinkers (last Nov. 29), he's really focused. It's very exciting and hopefully we'll have more fun down the road.”

Triple Crown temptation continues for Team O'Neill this Saturday when two other precocious 3-year-olds run in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Hot Rod Charlie and impressive maiden winner Wipe the Slate.

Stay tuned.

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Baffert Looking For Spielberg To Supply Him A Ninth Victory In Robert B. Lewis Stakes

Should Bob Baffert win Saturday's Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., he could “retire the cup,” as the expression goes.

It would mark the third straight victory in the steppingstone to the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3 for the two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer.

Baffert won the Lewis last year with Thousand Words and in 2019 with Mucho Gusto. Overall, he has won it a record eight times, dating back to 1999 with General Challenge.

Subsequent winners were Domestic Dispute (2003), Pioneerof the Nile (2009), Flashback (2013), Dortmund (2015), Mor Spirit (2016) and the aforementioned Mucho Gusto and Thousand Words.

First run in 1935 as the Santa Catalina Handicap, this will mark the 83^rd edition of the race, no matter its name or distance.

Baffert has two Triple Crown prospects nominated to the Lewis, but is likely to run only Spielberg, opting to wait and see how issues such as weather play out with Medina Spirit.

“Spielberg is definite, but Medina Spirit could run; I'm not certain,” Baffert said. “We're going to have a lot of rain next week so I'm not sure.” Both horses worked five furlongs Friday in the identical time of 1:01.20.

Spielberg won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity at a mile and one-sixteenth by a desperate nose over Doug O'Neill's 33-1 longshot The Great One last Dec. 19 and has displayed an advantageous stalking style. The Great One came back to win on Saturday, Jan. 23, by 14 lengths.

“He's been immature but he's improving mentally,” Baffert said of the $1-million son of Union Rags owned by a partnership of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, et al.

The Robert B. Lewis is named in honor of the late owner whose Silver Charm (co-owned with wife, Beverly) provided Bob Baffert with his first Kentucky Derby win in 1998. The Lewis's would also go on to win the 1999 Derby with the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Charismatic.

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‘This Horse Has Gears’: The Great One Makes Statement With 14-Length Maiden Triumph

Still a maiden following a nose defeat in a Grade 2 stakes on Dec. 19, trainer Doug O'Neill's The Great One exploded off the turn for home en route to a 14-length score in Saturday's second race at Santa Anita, a $61,000 maiden special weight, and thus further enhanced his stature as a serious Derby hopeful. Ridden by Abel Cedillo, the bay son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist got a mile in 1:37.28.

With Bob Baffert's first-time starter Fenway, who dominated the wagering as the even money favorite, gunning for the early lead from his rail post, The Great One pressed him every step of the way and was three quarters of a length back at the three furlong pole. Well within himself, The Great One quickly opened up at two length advantage at the quarter pole and widened from there in a tremendous effort.

“When we made the lead at the top of the stretch, that was pretty amazing,” said Cedillo, who although he showed The Great One the stick several times to maintain focus, never hit him. “This horse has gears. Anytime you want one, you got it. The way he won today, he's a top horse, no doubt about it.”

Second, beaten a nose at 33-1 in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity in his most recent start, The Great One, in his fifth career start, was off at 8-5 in a field of four sophomores and paid $5.20 and $2.60 with no show wagering.

“I always loved Nyquist and this colt caught my eye when he first came in,” said O'Neill assistant Leandro Mora. “He was very, very green, but we told the owners, please let us take our time with him and we have. We knew the ability was there. We have two horses for the Robert Lewis (G3, 1 1/16 miles) next Saturday, but I know Doug wants to try and keep these horses separated as long as we can. This colt is Louisiana-bred, so we have some options. We'll just see how he comes out of this race and then plan ahead.”

Owned by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson's ERJ Racing, LLC, Train Wreck Al Racing Stables, Niall J. Brennan, Tom Fritz and William Strauss, The Great One is out of the El Corredor mare Little Ms Protocol. A $185,000 Ocala Breeders' Sales July 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale purchase, The Great One picked up $36,600 for the win, increasing his earnings to $83,940.

Although trainer Mark Glatt's Affable loomed a contender a quarter mile out, he never got on terms with the winner and finished second, some 11 ½ lengths in front of longshot There Goes Harvard. Off at 2-1 with Juan Hernandez up, Affable returned $2.80 to place.

Fenway, who was ridden by Victor Espinoza, checked in last, beaten 29 ½ lengths.

Fractions on the race were 22.91, 45.76, 1:10.67 and 1:23.69.

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Caddo River Demolishes Smarty Jones Rivals As Oaklawn Meet Begins

Breaking from the outside post in a field of seven, Shortleaf Stable's homebred Caddo River went straight to the front under Florent Geroux, set all the fractions and pulled away to a 10 1/4-length victory in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on opening day of the 2021 Oaklawn meet in Hot Springs, Ark.

Caddo River, trained by Brad Cox, paid $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite after traveling one-mile around two turns in 1:38.19. Cowan finished second at 2-1 odds for Steve Asmussen, with stablemate Big Thorn 7 1/4 lengths back in third and Moonlite Strike fourth.

The Smarty Jones is an official qualifying points race for the Kentucky Derby offering 10-4-2-1 points to the top four finishers. In accordance to new rules put in place for 2021, starters cannot earn qualifying points if they are administered race-day Lasix to treat exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. All seven starters in the Smarty Jones raced Lasix-free.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard

By Hard Spun out of the Congrats mare Pangburn, Caddo River came into the Smarty Jones off a 9 1/2-length maiden victory at Churchill Downs Nov. 15 going a one-turn mile. He finished second in two previous races, a seven-furlong maiden test at Saratoga Sept. 5 and a Belmont test at the same distance on Oct. 11.

Caddo River outhustled Hardly Swayed for the early lead, going the opening quarter mile in :23.12 and the half in :47.16. Going into the far turn, Caddo River began to open up and he was well in control after six furlongs in 1:12.42 and seven panels in 1:25.26. He cruised to the sixteenth pole short-stretch finish line while widening his advantage with every stride.

“He broke very alertly,” said Geroux. “Very nice and relaxed. You want to see these type horses doing it the right way. It's easy to go to the lead and keep on going. You want them to relax and do everything right. He did everything perfect. The distance doesn't look like it's going to be a problem. Very excited about what's coming up ahead of us with him. Looks like he can run all day, which is a good problem. Hopefully, we can go on, go up the stepping stones and have a nice horse for the first Saturday in May.”

John Ed Anthony, a Hot Springs resident who races in the name of Shortleaf Stable, has won the G1 Arkansas Derby on three occasions, with Temperence Hill in 1980, Demons Begone in 1987 and Pine Bluff in 1992. With Caddo River likely headed down the path to the April 10 renewal of the meet's biggest race, he could be in line for a fourth.

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