Derby vibe at Santa Anita
There was a bit of an early Derby vibe Saturday at Santa Anita, where the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) shared the spotlight with a trio of Grade 2s for older horses, the Palos Verdes, San Marcos and San Pasqual. Horseplayers were slow to arrive, but by day’s end the crowd had grown to more than 11,000.
Kentucky Derby winners coming out of the Robert B. Lewis, formerly known as the Santa Catalina Stakes, have been few and far between since the race became restricted to three-year-olds in 1964. Ferdinand (1986) and I’ll Have Another (2012) are the only horses to win both races in the 54 years. This year’s Lewis field included just three starters with graded-stakes experience, none of whom managed to hit the board. Nevertheless, with Californiabased horses having won four of the last six Derbies, all the state’s preps must be given a look.
In the Robert B. Lewis, Shivermetimbers was dispatched as a narrow 2-1 choice, thanks to his relatively high Beyers. But it was Lombo, an 8-1 shot coming off a maiden win here two weeks ago, who proved best, getting away with slow fractions en route to a two-length, front-running victory. Shivermetimbers faded to seventh in the nine-horse field.
Morning-line favorite Peace, a son of Violence, finished fifth.
Two races earlier, 2017 champion sprinter Roy H made his 2018 debut with a dominating 3½ -length victory in the Palos Verdes Stakes. Only three horses showed up to take on the six-year-old gelding, who has put up big numbers while winning six of his last seven starts. Next stop could be the Dubai Golden Shaheen on March 31.
The San Marcos boasted the day’s most exotic field. The seven starters included grandsons of Sunday Silence (Flamboyant) and New Zealand great Octagonal (Isotherm), as well as a Brazilianbred (Editore) and a fourthgeneration descendant of France’s legendary Sea-Bird (Itsinthepost), whose male line has been hanging by a thread for decades. Last year Itsinthepost became the first Sea-Bird-line horse to win a U.S. graded race since 1996.
Itsinthepost, who was bidding for his fifth Grade 2 win since last March, went off as the 4-5 favorite. Longshot Mr. Roary made the early running, but when Itsinthepost’s three-wide move cleared the field on the far turn, it looked like the race might be over. A late bid by Hayabusa One, a fellow French-bred who roared up alongside in the final sixteenth, saw the two crossing the line together. The photo showed Itsinthepost holding on by an official nose.
The San Pasqual, the day’s final stakes, was contested at nine furlongs for the first time since the 1930s. Multiple-graded winners Mubtaahij, Pavel and Accelerate took most of the money, with Pavel going off as the narrow favorite. It turned out, though, that Accelerate was sitting on the best race. Overcoming an adventurous trip, which bottled him up on the inside much of the way, the five-year-old horse found room in upper stretch, drawing off through the lane for a 1 ¾-length victory.
Roy H, Itsinthepost and Accelerate are high-class racehorses who may well go on to have big years in 2018. The main story coming out of Santa Anita today, however, will probably concern Lombo: specifically, is this a serious Kentucky Derby horse or just another threeyear-old who happened to have a good day in early February? We’ll find out in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.
Jeff Scott writes about horse racing Tuesday in The Saratogian. He may be reached at utahpine1@aol. com.