Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Hunt trying to find lost form
ARCADIA, Calif. – More than nine months have passed since Hunt won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Memorial Day weekend. Hunt has failed to replicate that form in three subsequent starts, and trainer Phil D’Amato is hoping Hunt will once again show his best in Saturday’s Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf at Santa Anita.
“He’s definitely got to show the form he showed last year,” D’Amato said Sunday. “He shows it in his breezes. I was very happy with his last two.”
Owned by Michael House, Hunt has won five stakes in the last three years, with the Shoemaker the lone Grade 1. Last summer, Hunt was last of 10 in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes and sixth in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile in consecutive starts before being rested for the remainder of the year.
In his comeback in the Clocker’s Corner Stakes on the hillside turf course on Jan. 27, Hunt raced at the back of the field throughout. He finished seventh, 10 lengths behind Conquest Tsunami, who won by 4 1/4 lengths.
“We tried to make the downhill race a prep for this race,” D’Amato said. “Conquest freaked. At least it was a good work for this race.”
Hunt is one of nine stakes winners among 10 horses expected for the Kilroe Mile. Of the other candidates, Blended Citizen, Caribou Club, Catapult, Delta Prince, Next Shares, Ohio, River Boyne, and True Valour have also won stakes. Desert Stone has yet to win a stakes, but was second in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile and third in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby last year.
Hunt will have a new rider in the Kilroe. His regular rider, Flavien Prat, is booked on River Boyne. D’Amato said he would decide on a rider in the middle of the week. Monday, River Boyne worked five furlongs on the infield training track in 1:03.80
Next Shares, winner of the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland last October, worked a half-mile on turf in 47 seconds for trainer Richard Baltas, who also worked the 3-year-old filly Colonial Creed on turf in 47.60. Colonial Creed will start in Saturday’s China Doll Stakes at a mile on turf.
Turf workouts are rare at Santa Anita. Baltas said he requested the chance to work those two horses in advance of Saturday’s races.
“They let me on, and that was nice of them,” Baltas said of Santa Anita management.
Mike Smith was aboard Next Shares for the turf workout and will have the mount Saturday, Baltas said.
McKinzie is Big Cap highweight
McKinzie, winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, will carry top weight of 123 pounds in Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
The $600,000 Big Cap, run at 1 1/4 miles, will be McKinzie’s second start this year, preceded by a second to Battle of Midway in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 2. The Santa Anita Handicap will be McKinzie’s first start at 1 1/4 miles since a 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.
Trained by Bob Baffert, McKinzie worked six furlongs in 1:13.80 on Monday.
The Big Cap, the richest of five stakes on Saturday, has an expected field of seven. Gift Box, winner of the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26, has been assigned 122 pounds. The remaining weights are Dabster, at 118; Prime Attraction, at 116, and Campaign, Noble Commander, and Sonneteer, all at 115.
Last year, Accelerate won the Big Cap by 5 1/2 lengths as the 123-pound highweight. Accelerate later won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was named the champion older male of 2018 for owners Pete and Kosta Hronis and trainer John Sadler, who will start Gift Box.
Easy Shot facing big names
Easy Shot’s status for the 2019 Triple Crown scene will be determined in a top-class running of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
The $500,000 San Felipe at 1 1/16 miles is expected to be led by Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, and Improbable, who won the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in December in his last start.
Monday, Game Winner worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, while Improbable went the same distance in 59.60.
The San Felipe will be by far the toughest race of Easy Shot’s career.
Easy Shot was third in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on a sealed and sloppy track Feb. 2. There is a strong possibility for a fast track Saturday, and trainer Keith Desormeaux is hopeful such conditions will help Easy Shot.
“We’re giving him a chance to prove himself against the highest level,” he said Sunday. “Each race has been better. I’ll give him another chance.”
Owned by Calumet Farm, Easy Shot won an $80,000 claimer for maidens at 6 1/2 furlongs in his fourth start on Nov. 30 at Del Mar. In his first start this year, and his stakes debut, Easy Shot raced in traffic in the final furlong and finished fifth in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at a mile on Jan. 5.
“He’s been running respectable races,” Desormeaux said.
Other candidates for the San Felipe are Gunmetal Gray, who won the Sham and was second in the Lewis, and Extra Hope, who was third in the Los Alamitos Futurity and won an optional claimer at a mile on Jan. 31.
The San Felipe Stakes is expected to yield a few runners for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.