Gormley was game as they come in a sham-tastic performance at Santa Anita on January 7 in the Sham Stakes. The first step on the 2017 Triple Crown Trail did not lack drama and American Anthem nearly stole the show.
In what was as close to a match race as one could envision, American Anthem took the lead from his inside post and was pushed to get the first quarter-mile in :22.54. Gormley was game from the beginning and was only a head off the lead after a half-mile in :45.46. American Anthem held that same head advantage after 6 furlongs in 1:10.13 before Gormley took over with a furlong to go.
At the end of the mile fray, Gormley was game to just hold together and beat American Anthem by a mere head. The final time was 1:35.89 and American Anthem was 13 lengths in front of the third horse.
As far as the betting was concerned American Anthem was the ‘wise guy’ horse. Santa Anita line-maker Jon White tabbed American Anthem, who is trained by Bob Baffert, at 9-5 on the morning line with Gormley the favorite at 8-5. The fans went the other way with American Anthem starting at even money.
Trained by John Shirreffs, Gormley was game, is quick and showed he has a huge heart in the Sham Stakes. He tends to get away quickly and then relax but he dug in when it counted and won the photo finish on Saturday.
Gormley was ridden by Victor Espinoza, who has been on a quite a roll the last few years. He was the regular rider for Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and he has been aboard California Chrome for all of his wins since December of 2013.
Gormley earned a career best 94 Beyer Speed Figure and that stands up well to the recent Sham results. Last year Collected earned an 81 Beyer. In 2015, Sham winner Calculator posted a 98 Beyer.
Take nothing away from American Anthem. Considering the fact that the racer was making only his second start, he ran huge. Both of the Sham stars have solid pedigrees. American Anthem is by Grade 1 winner Bodemeister and Gormley is out of a stakes winning dam.
Gulfstream Park was the other venue that hosted an important 3-year-old race on January 7. The $100,000 Mucho Macho Man was carded at a mile and full field swamped the gate. Sonic Mule did all the heavy lifting in the stakes but he was no even pointed for the Mucho Macho Man.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Sonic Mule’s connections were pointing for the Grade 3 Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream but that race did not fill and Pletcher had to go to Plan B.
In this case, Plan B was the right concept as Sonic Mule sat off the early pace early, turned back State of Grace in deep stretch and secured his second stakes win. Sonic Mule proved he doesn’t need to lead to win as he won by a head in 1:37.52.
Pletcher had anxiety over whether Sonic Mule could get the distance but the runner had breezed well coming into the race and seemed to be coming up to a big performance. Sonic Mule showed grit in his win but he did not gallop out solidly after the race and was probably fully extended.
In the long run, distance limitations could thwart Sonic Mule. His sire Distorted Humor is best known as a sprinter and he was only one for 10 in his route attempts. Sonic Mule’s dam Globe Trot did win 3 routes in the minor leagues and this is her first foal to race.
The fact that Pletcher was aiming for a sprint race for Sonic Mule speaks volumes. Outside of Bob Baffert, there is probably not a trainer in America that is more attuned to his 3-year-olds that are pointing to the Kentucky Derby. There are reasons why certain horses are regarded as sprinters and routers.
Sprinters are generally tightly built, in a way that an Olympian that runs the 100-yard dash is composed. While routers tend to be a bit longer and lean in a way that allows them to cover ground effortlessly for long distances.
