Siren Lure draws five stakes winners

ARCADIA, Calif. – The $80,000 Siren Lure Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Sunday has drawn five stakes winners in a field of 11.

Those runners – Acceptance, B Squared, Cistron, Gold Rush Dancer, and Mongolian Shopper – are only a partial list of the leading contenders. Three others – Anatolian Heat, Bombard, and Double Touch – have won optional-claiming races this year and rate as potential winners in a competitive race.

The Siren Lure is the final stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside course before the spring-summer meeting ends June 24.

KEY CONTENDERS

B Squared, by Square Eddie Last 3 Beyers: 92-94-82

◗ B Squared won the California Flag Handicap for statebreds on the hillside turf course last October and was third behind Double Touch in an optional claimer on the hillside in February. Last November, B Squared was ninth at 51-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar.

◗ More recently, B Squared won the Thor’s Echo Stakes for statebreds at six furlongs on dirt April 14 and was second, beaten a head, by the 10-yearold Soi Phet in the Crystal Water Stakes at a mile on turf May 20.

“He ran a winning race last time,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He’s been very versatile.”

Bombard, by War Front Last 3 Beyers: 91-87-93

◗ Bombard will have his stakes debut in the Siren Lure, and has won two of four starts on the hillside. Bombard won his 2018 debut in an optional claimer on the hillside May 3, his first start since a 2017 operation to have a bone chip removed from a knee, trainer Richard Mandella said.

“We’ll see if he can step into the big time,” Mandella said.

◗ Flavien Prat, the leading rider at the meeting, will ride Bombard, who has won from the front or as a stalker.

“I don’t know that he needs one [style] or another,” Mandella said.

Double Touch, by Dutch Art Last 3 Beyers: 92-84-83

◗ Double Touch won an optional claimer Feb. 23 in his only start this year and has been plagued by “little issues” in recent months, trainer Dan Blacker said.

◗ Prat rode Double Touch in February. Gary Stevens has the mount in the Siren Lure on the 4-year-old gelding, who will be closing late.

“We need a fast pace,” Blacker said. “The turf course is not ideal for us, being as speedfavoring as it is. When he wins, it’s usually in the last jump.”

Perfectly Majestic, by Majesticperfection Last 3 Beyers: 98-89-91

◗ Perfectly Majestic was a fast-closing fourth in the Grade 3 All American Stakes at a mile at Golden Gate Fields on May 28. Though winless in his last 10 starts, Perfectly Majestic was beaten a nose in the Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course in 2017.

Anatolian Heat, by Unusual Heat Last 3 Beyers: 91-84-90

◗ Anatolian Heat has won twice on the hillside turf course in optional claimers this year, and was fourth in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on the hillside in February. Trainer Peter Miller has won six stakes on the hillside turf course this year.