Zenyatta's first foal, Cozmic One, entered at Santa Anita
A Triple Crown nominee, Cozmic One is starting out over two turns in the one-mile maiden special weight. The dark bay has been training steadily all through the winter and spring, most recently working a half-mile in :50 from the gate at Santa Anita on Sunday. He will break from the rail with Victor Espinoza. Cozmic One is scheduled to meet six rivals. The best could be Hronis Racing's Moe Candy (Candy Ride), the only other Triple Crown nominee in the field. The John Sadler pupil just missed to Whiskey Ticket (Ghostzapper) at this track and trip March 19. Two starts back, Moe Candy was third to Power Jam (Concord Point) and eventual Northern Spur hero Wolf Man Rocket (Mineshaft). Another with good local form is D' Church (Majestic Warrior), who has placed in all three of his maiden attempts. Second to eventual Echo Eddie S. winner Gimme Da Lute (Midnight Lute) in his unveiling for former connections, he was acquired by Reddam Racing and transferred to Simon Callaghan. D' Church was last seen coming up a neck short in a 1 1/16-mile maiden April 3. |
But the most compelling storyline is furnished by the Richard Mandella-trained Volume -- a son of Blame, who famously handed Zenyatta her only career defeat in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). A Claiborne Farm homebred, Volume trailed in a mile maiden on turf and switches to the main track in this second try.
Godolphin's Tried and True is by Medaglia d'Oro, the sire of Rachel Alexandra, who bested Zenyatta in the 2009 Horse of the Year voting. Tried and True stretches out off a sixth in a notable 5 1/2-furlong maiden January 31. The top two from that race have both come back to win stakes -- Yiannis (Midshipman), victorious in Sunday's San Pedro, and the aforementioned Gimme Da Lute. With his route pedigree on top and bottom, Tried and True figures to enjoy the added ground on Friday. The Eoin Harty colt just fired a bullet five furlongs over the track in :58 3/5 Sunday.
Rounding out the short field are Attack (Quality Road) and Paythebank (Lemon Drop Kid), both beaten in maiden claimers in their latest ventures.
Post time for the 2ND race is 4:30 p.m. (EDT).