The Santa Anita Derby lured a full field of 13 Saturday and it will be a great race to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Not only is there a $1 million purse for the Grade 1 nine-furlong fixture but the winner will pick up 100 points and automatically qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
This is the most wide-open Santa Anita Derby field in years. Traditionally, the die has been cast by this point in time and there are only a handful of runners that have aspirations for this race and beyond. The fuzzy Kentucky Derby picture is accentuated by the huge number of entrants in this season’s Arcadia fixture.
Ten runners in history have won the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby including Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Determine and Swaps did it in consecutive years back in the 1950s. Winning Colors and Sunday Silence closed the 1980s doing the same thing.
Term of Art drew the rail for his last race and he broke behind his field. He has drawn the rail again and will likely have to come from left field to try to win this race.
Reach the World is one of three Santa Anita Derby hopefuls that are trained by Bob Baffert. This runner has shown versatility and he was over five lengths clear when beaten a neck last time. Reach the World’s dam was a winner but she is connected in a more important way. The dam is a sibling to Escena, who won three Grade 1 races including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Escena ended her career winning 11 of 29 races and banking nearly $3 million.
Baffert also saddles American Anthem, who ran a puzzling race last time in the Rebel Stakes. That was American Anthem’s first race in about seven weeks. In the last five years Baffert is 20% with second off the layoff runners in a Graded stakes. The trainer has put some speed into this son of Bodemeister since the Rebel. American Anthem’s dam was only a double winner but she had superior blood. Her sibling Banshee Breeze won five Grade 1s in her career and earned over $2.7 million.
The third prong in the Baffert dish is Irish Freedom, who has only one sprint win under his belt and looms an outsider.
Battle of Midway stretched out successfully last time and was a game winner vs. allowance foes. He sure looks fit enough as trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has put a number of fast workouts into the son of Smart Strike since that last race. The pedigree is also excellent. His dam Rigoletta was a Grade 1 winner at Santa Anita routing. Go deep in Battle of Midway’s blood and over $650,000 earner Sea of Green becomes visible.
Comma Sister will attempt to punctuate her recent maiden win by stepping up today. He has yet to win on dirt so he has some things to iron out.
Doug O’Neill thought enough of So Conflated to ship him 3,000 miles to New York for the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. He was caught five wide in that race and never got a chance to show his top talent. It’s easy to see why O’Neill has given So Conflated a long leash. The runner’s dam Donnie’s Secret was a triple winner in the minor leagues but her sibling Leah’s Secret won multiple Grade 2s and earned over $1.1 million.
Four of the six races that Kimbear has run have been on grass. He graduated impressively last time but that was going only seven furlongs.
Gormley will take his share of action at the betting windows. He was a Grade 1 winner at Santa Anita last year and he showed he can adapt as he took the Grade 3 Sham to kick off 2017. He has a right to bounce back from his fourth in the San Felipe last time and maybe he needed the race. He had been off for over two months. Gormley is trained by John Shirreffs, who trained the great Horse of the Year Zenyatta, who only lost once in 20 starts. Shirreffs is not great with this training move. He is only one for 28 in the last five years with second off the layoff runners in a Graded stakes.
Iliad seems to be coming to this race right. He could have been short in his racing debut but then shipped to Los Alamitos to earn the diploma. He switched stables from Baffert’s barn to O’Neill when owner Kaleem Shah changed trainers. The son of Ghostzapper was no match for Mastery last time in the San Felipe Stakes but he has brilliant speed and will be able to make his own luck.
Milton Freewater has won two sprints and lost his only route attempt. Those that back Milton will get a juicy price in this edition of the Santa Anita Derby.
Midnight Pleasure was a shocking 20-1 winner in his only victory and it came sprinting.
On the extreme outside comes Royal Mo, who controlled the pace and the outcome in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February. He is hooking much more speed today but he still has a right to have a stellar career. If one delves deep into Royal Mo’s pedigree a nugget of class is exhumed. That nugget comes in the form of Irish Linnet, who a total of 13 stakes in her career and earned over $1.1 million.
When the gates open look for American Anthem and Gormley to be gunning hard at the sound of the bell. Iliad showed in both of his wins that he does not need the lead to succeed and would expect his rider Flavien Prat to let the horse dictate how to approach this pace.
Iliad gets the call. He has the blood to go on and thrive in this sport as his sibling Melmich took eleven routes in his career and earned nearly $600,000. Iliad has the experience of routing now but his most powerful asset is his speed. The racer can set very fast splits and dare the others to catch him. Having a guy like O’Neill calling the shots doesn’t hurt either as the trainer know what it is like to compete on the biggest of stages.
Iliad could very well prove to be an elusive proposition in this Santa Anita Derby and O’Neill will be hoping to secure his third winner in this event.
