Sired by Kitten's Joy, America's leading active turf stallion eight years in a row and the sire of more than 100 stakes winners in 12 crops, it made sense to have Tripoli race exclusively on grass when the chestnut colt began his career at Santa Anita on May 23, 2020.
It was far from an auspicious debut, however, as Tripoli finished 12th and last at 13-1 in the 5 ½ furlong turf sprint. He did a complete turnaround in his next race, winning by a nose over the same venue at odds of 46-1.
Tripoli captured one more turf victory in nine subsequent grass starts, this one going a mile at Santa Anita on May 1. After that, trainer John Sadler and owners Hronis Racing LLC sought greener pastures in the form of three straight runs on the main track, capping them with a victory in the Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic at a mile and a quarter on Aug. 21.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, so next up is Saturday's Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes on Santa Anita's main track, one of five graded events that day, three of them Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Races giving the winner a fees-paid berth to their respective Breeders' Cup races on Nov. 5 and 6 at Del Mar.
“Tripoli won a nice race (on dirt) at Santa Anita in the spring,” Sadler said, referring to an overnight route on June 19. “We took him to Del Mar and he continued his improvement with a second (by a half-length) in the Grade II San Diego Handicap (July 17).
“Then he came back and won the Pacific Classic. He's a horse that just loves the dirt right now. He's honest and consistently runs well. He was unlucky a few times on the turf but he should run well on Saturday.
“It looks like a good spot.”
A son of the Irish-bred stallion El Prado, Kitten's Joy stands for $60,000 at Hill 'n' Dale farms in Paris, Ky.
Sadler reports that Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World, who was nominated to the Awesome Again, will instead be pointed to the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at a mile and one eighth on turf closing day, Oct. 31.
The Awesome Again, race 10 of 11 with an early 12:30 p.m. first post time: Tizamagician, Flavien Prat, 4-1; Midcourt, Edwin Maldonado, 12-1; Express Train, Juan Hernandez, 4-1; Stilleto Boy, Kent Desormeaux, 20-1; Medina Spirit, John Velazquez, 5-2; Azul Coast, Abel Cedillo, 12-1; Tripoli, Tiago Pereira, 3-1; and Idol, Joe Bravo, 5-1.
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