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TEAM DESORMEAUX IS READY FOR SHAM STAKES
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BLINKERS ON BODHICITTA IN GRADE III FRANKEL
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$50K IN ‘SEED MONEY’ TO SUNDAY’S LATE PICK 5
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AMERICAN OAKS RETAINS ITS GRADE I STATUS
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FIVE EYE THE GEORGE WOOLF MEMORIAL AWARD
TRAINER ENVISIONS HUGE YEAR FOR OVIATT CLASS
Oviatt Class was an apparent “steam horse” in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 5, the “wise guys” bearing down on him at the windows and sending him off at 9-1, less than half his morning line program odds of 20-1.
Paring of his price in part was due to the scratch of 9-5 morning line Juvenile favorite Jack Christopher.
Oviatt Class did finish an eventful fifth, beaten 8 ½ lengths by undefeated Bob Baffert trainee Corniche, a prohibitive favorite to be named Eclipse Award winner as champion two-year-old male at the 51st annual Eclipse dinner Feb. 10 at Santa Anita.
One person more disappointed in Oviatt Class than his mutuel backers in the Juvenile was his trainer, Keith Desormeaux, who hopes the $60,000 son of the A.P. Indy stallion Bernardini makes amends in Saturday’s Grade III Sham Stakes, the West’s first significant offering on the Triple Crown trail.
Oviatt Class has victimized himself with tardy starts or wide trips in each of his five races, including a third by 3 ¾ lengths behind Corniche in the Grade I American Pharoah at Santa Anita last Oct. 1, rallying from seventh and last at the half-mile marker.
“Maybe the horse is just not the greatest gate-breaker,” said Desormeaux, who has given his brother, Hall of Fame member and three-time Kentucky Derby winner Kent a leg up in all of the bay colt’s starts, “but I don’t consider that a problem for him.
“As far as him coming wide, I think that’s more due to Kent’s style. The horse didn’t run his race at Del Mar (in the Juvenile) and I still haven’t figured it out.
“We were so excited and pumped up expecting a huge race based on the way he’d been training, and that wasn’t only my opinion. He was 20-1 on the morning line and ended up 9-1, so he was a hot horse, an insider’s horse, and I think the gamblers were right on, but he didn’t produce and I don’t have an answer.
“The horse is doing great and I think he’s got a huge year ahead of him, so we’ve taken our time, let him freshen and the Sham seems like a good spot to get it rolling.”
Oviatt Class was bought for $60,000 at the Keeneland Sales in September of 2020 and is owned by financial magnate James E. Downey of Newport Beach. The horse could become another of Keith’s burgeoning bargains, already more than doubling his purchase price with earnings of $137,620.
“I met James through a friend,” Keith said. “He had owned horses some 30 years ago and with Oviatt Class, it looks like he’s hit a home run in his first at bat on his return.”
Keith, a regular at Santa Anita in recent years, now also operates in Kentucky and his home state of Louisiana, where this interview was conducted by phone, before he departed for Santa Anita where he will be on hand for the Sham.
“To tell you the truth, I’d prefer to be based at Santa Anita full time,” Keith said, “but the economics necessitates me splitting the stable, and I’m doing the best I can in this manner.”
Little wonder Keith has a fondness for Santa Anita. With Kent in the saddle for his brother, Texas Red won the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Exaggerator the 2016 Santa Anita Derby, before going on to capture the Preakness.
As to the revival of Kent’s riding career at age 51 after overcoming a myriad of personal and substance abuse issues, Keith, who turns 55 on Jan. 27, offered this: “Kent’s so talented and his ability has always been there.
“It’s personal BS that’s a problem. He’s got to take care of that and I don’t have the answers, but the riding ability is God-given and an absolute gift. He’s got it working full force right now.
“Hopefully, we can see that on Saturday.”
The Sham goes as race seven of 10 with a 12 noon first post time: Mackinnon, Juan Hernandez, 3-1; Oviatt Class, Kent Desormeaux, 7-2; Newgrange, John Velazquez, 2-1; Rockefeller, Flavien Prat, 8-5; and Degree of Risk, Umberto Rispoli, 12-1.
BALTAS HAS TWO FOR THE MONEY IN FRANKEL
Richard Baltas has two horses entered in Saturday’s Grade III Robert J. Frankel Stakes scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on turf, Bodhicitta and Luck.
Bodhicitta, a six-year-old Showcasing mare bred in England, is coming off eight straight graded stakes, four of them Grade I’s including the Matriarch last out at Del Mar Nov. 28 where she finished sixth and last after stalking the pace,
Baltas adds blinkers for the Frankel, named for the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel who passed away Nov. 16, 2009 at 68. The Brooklyn native won five Eclipse Awards as outstanding conditioner and five Santa Anita training titles.
“I’m just trying something different with her,” Baltas said in explaining the addition of blinkers on Bodhicitta, who has a 4-4-3 record with earnings of $344,808 for one of the trainer’s main clients, Calvin Nguyen. “This is a lot easier spot and I think she wants more distance.
“Luck is a good filly and she had a soft pace in the (Grade III) Red Carpet (when beaten a head as the 3-10 favorite Nov. 25 at Del Mar, attempting to overcome dawdling fractions of 1:16.20, 1:40.40 and a final time of 2:15.40 for 1 3/8 miles).
“I actually think this is a better distance for her.”
The Frankel is the eighth race: Bodhicitta, Kent Desormeaux, 8-1; Mucho Unusual, John Velazquez, 5-2; England’s Rose, Victor Espinoza, 5-1; Moraz, Juan Hernandez, 6-1; Sloane Garden, Kyle Frey, 12-1; Global Brand, Umberto Rispoli, 6-1; and Luck, Flavien Prat, 8-5.
SUNDAY’S LATE PICK 5 TO GET $50,000 IN ‘SEED MONEY’ AS TRACK SAYS ‘THANKS’
Sunday’s 50 cent Late Pick 5, which will be comprised of races six through 10, will get a substantial boost, as Santa Anta has announced it will “seed” the Late 5 pool with $50,000 as the track would like to thank its horseplayers and horsemen their tremendous support opening week in the face of adverse weather conditions. With the infusion of this $50,000, it is hoped this will help to stimulate incremental handle and therefore benefit owners by driving additional funds to the Winter/Spring purse account.
OAKS STILL GRADE I DESPITE SURFACE SWITCH
Good news from the Paulick Report as follows:
The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s American Graded Stakes Committee said the Dec. 26 American Oaks – taken off turf and run on dirt because of wet conditions at Santa Anita – would have its Grade I standing reinstated.
Under the AGS Committee’s rules, races run on a different surface than that originally scheduled are automatically downgraded and reviewed for possible reinstatement.
The American Oaks, won by Queen Goddess, drew 11 entries. Only one original entry was scratched from the race, and it was not surface-related.
The committee also reinstated the Grade II standing for the Santa Anita Mathis Mile Stakes, run the same day as the American Oaks. Law Professor won the race in a field of eight. One horse, Zoffarelli, scratched because of the surface change.
A third stakes run Dec. 26, the San Gabriel, will remain a Grade III race for 2021 after automatically being downgraded from Grade II when it was taken off the turf. Three of the original seven entries were scratched after the surface change, including morning line favorite Hit the Road.
The AGS Committee will meet Jan. 26-27 to assign grades for 2022. The timing is a departure from previous years when the committee would meet in early December, assessing races run after the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup through the current year’s Breeders’ Cup.
The new schedule permits the committee to assess races for the entire calendar year.
FIVE VIE FOR SANTA ANITA’S GEORGE WOOLF AWARD
There are five finalists for the 2022 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, with the winner to be announced in February. They are Joe Bravo, Glenn Corbett, Julien Leparoux, Rodney Prescott and Tim Thornton, riders who have competed with distinction nationwide.
One of the most prestigious prizes in American racing, the Woolf Award, presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950, is determined by a vote of jockeys nationwide and can only be won once. It recognizes riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of racing.
The trophy is a replica of the life-sized statue of legendary Hall of Fame jockey George Woolf which adorns Santa Anita’s Paddock Gardens area.
Woolf was a household word by virtue of winning the inaugural Santa Anita Handicap aboard Azucar on Feb, 23, 1935, and for his association with the immortal Seabiscuit when the conquered Triple Crown champion War Admiral in a mile and three-sixteenths match race at Pimlico on Nov. 1, 1938.
Affectionately known as “The Iceman,” Woolf was revered by his fellow riders, members of the media and millions of racing fans as a fierce competitor and consummate professional.
The 50-year-old Bravo has been a regular in Southern California since last summer when he left the mid-Atlantic region where he won 13 riding titles at Monmouth Park. The third-generation rider’s biggest win came at Santa Anita on Blue Prize in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Corbett, 55, was born in Georgia and has been industrious throughout his career which began at Penn National in May of 1985 He has ridden at 36 different tracks in 18 states.
A member of the Prairie Meadows Hall of Fame, Corbett considered a career in professional rodeo while in high school. He scored his 4,000th career victory at Turf Paradise last March 8.
Considered an elite world-class rider, the 39-year-old Leparoux has been leading rider at Keeneland 12 times and was fourth all-time at the Kentucky track with 507 victories,
Born in March 8, 1974 in Portland, Indiana, Prescott is the Hoosier State’s all-time leading rider. After a stint as a groom upon graduation high school, at age 20 Prescott broke his maiden at River Downs near Cincinnati and registered his 4,000th career victory at Indiana Grand on Nov. 4.
Louisiana native Thornton’s career continues on the rise as he set a single-day record last Oct. 23 by winning seven races at Delta Downs.
Formerly a regular at Chicago-area tracks he broke his maiden on June 13, 2003 and posted career win 2,000 last Feb. 16 at Delta Downs, securing his third consecutive Delta riding title in April.
Gordon Glisson Won the inaugural Woolf Award in 1950 and DeShawn Parker won in 2021, becoming its 72nd recipient.
FINISH LINES: Jockey Kyle Frey has been suspended three days (Jan. 2, 7 and 8) for causing interference on Jamming Eddy in the fourth race at Los Alamitos Dec. 12, resulting in the disqualification of his mount from first to fifth. . . Per the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Mega Event Guidelines, fans 12 and older must provide proof of vaccination status prior to entering Santa Anita Park. Alternatively, fans can show proof of a negative test result (taken within 72 hours from date of event). For more information on safety protocols, please visit santaanita.com/health.
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