Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Battle of Midway, Reach the World possible for Santa Anita Derby
ARCADIA, Calif. – Battle of Midway and Reach the World finished a neck apart in an optional claimer for 3-year-olds in Thursday’s seventh race at Santa Anita. There is a good chance they will see each other again in early spring.
Trainers Jerry Hollendorfer and Bob Baffert said they are strongly considering the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8 for both colts, who had their third career starts Thursday.
Battle of Midway, third in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs Feb. 12, won his first start around two turns in Thursday’s race at 1 1/16 miles. Ridden by leading rider Flavien Prat, Battle of Midway raced wide before taking the lead in early stretch. He led by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong to go and was tested in the final sixteenth by Reach the World.
Owned by Rick Porter, Battle of Midway was timed in 1:44.16.
“We’d look at a race like the Santa Anita Derby,” Hollendorfer said. “He could be up to it.”
Reach the World raced between horses in the field of eight for the first six furlongs and closed well under jockey Mike Smith. Owned by Don Alberto Stable, Reach the World is a colt who may prefer longer races, Baffert said.
“He seems like a Belmont kind of horse,” Baffert said, referring to the Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles in June. “He could show up in the Santa Anita Derby.”
Reach the World, by Tapit, has yet to run in a stakes.
The $1 million Santa Anita Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles and is the West Coast’s leading prep for the Triple Crown.
Decked Out taking a break
Decked Out, unraced since winning the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita on Dec. 31, is getting a three-month break and will resume training in the spring, trainer Keith Desormeaux said Friday.
Decked Out has been at Piecefield Farm in Southern California since mid-February and will be there until May.
“She’s on a little break,” Desormeaux said. “We’ll point for a fall campaign.”
Decked Out had two recorded workouts at Santa Anita in early February before Desormeaux opted to give the filly a rest.
“She wasn’t recovering the way I liked,” he said. “She hadn’t had a break since her 2-year-old season. It was time.”
Owned by a partnership that includes Big Chief Racing, Head of Plains Partners, and Gene Voss, Decked Out has won 3 of 16 starts and has earned $480,859. The American Oaks was Decked Out’s second stakes win. She won the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes on turf last April.
Desormeaux said Decked Out’s latest win has changed the mind-set regarding the management of the 4-year-old filly by Street Boss. The BC Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 4 is a long-term goal.
“A lot goes into the decisionmaking after a Grade 1 win,” Desormeaux said.
Stellar Wind nears 2017 debut
Stellar Wind, the 2015 champion 3-year-old filly, worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 at Santa Anita on Friday, an exercise trainer John Sadler described as “sensational.”
“We asked her to do a little more,” Sadler said. “She looked super-duper.”
Owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, Stellar Wind is scheduled to have her 2017 debut in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park on April 14.
Stellar Wind has not raced since finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita last November. The same race at Del Mar on Nov. 3 is a long-term goal.
By Curlin, Stellar Wind has won 7 of 12 starts and earned $1,453,200. She won consecutive Grade 1 races last year – the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar and the Zenyatta Stakes here in October – before losing the BC Distaff by 3 3/4 lengths to eventual champion older mare Beholder.
Stevens 0 for 2 in return
Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens was winless in two mounts at Santa Anita on Thursday, his first rides since undergoing hip-replacement surgery in late December.
Stevens finished a close second on Oopper Wallah in the fourth race, for 3-year-old claiming sprinters, and sixth on Jabber Now in the eighth race, for maidens on turf. He was active in the Santa Anita stables on Friday morning.
“I’ve worked a couple, and I’m ready for today,” he said.
Stevens, 54, has no mounts on Sunday’s nine-race program. He resumed working horses in late February. Thursday was his first day of riding since Dec. 10 at Los Alamitos.