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Cobalt Blue paints himself into Derby picture The Merv Griffin Ranch Company's COBALT BLUE (Golden Missile) made a winning return from a six-month layoff in Wednesday's 2ND race at Santa Anita, punching his ticket for the Triple Crown trail. After tracking the pace along the rail in the six-furlong allowance, jockey Garrett Gomez swung Cobalt Blue to the outside for a clear path into the stretch. The Doug O'Neill sophomore smoothly overhauled stakes-placed Street Lights (High Brite) and edged away to post a one-length victory, stopping the teletimer in 1:09 on the fast track as the 2-1 second choice. It was another 5 1/2 lengths back to 6-5 favorite Can This Be True (Yes It's True). Always highly regarded, Cobalt Blue is now two-for-three lifetime. The chestnut created quite an impression when rallying to score in his debut last June at Hollywood Park. He then contested the August 13 Best Pal S. (G2) at Del Mar, but he broke slowly and was never a factor. O'Neill sent him to the sidelines to regroup from that setback. Since returning from his spell on the farm, Cobalt Blue has been training steadily at Hollywood in advance of his three-year-old debut. Out of the stakes-placed Prado Star (El Prado [Ire]), Cobalt Blue was sold for $325,000 as a two-year-old in training at the 2006 Fasig-Tipton February sale. Dennis O'Neill, the trainer's brother, signed the ticket on behalf of Griffin. "He's a gorgeous colt," Dennis O'Neill said. "That's the most Merv ever paid for a horse. He's probably the most beautiful colt I ever bought, and we got him on the only bid we made. He's perfectly put together and very correct. He would have gone for a lot more, but he's by Golden Missile, who's not in vogue. "I told Merv when I bought him that he was a mile and a half horse, and we're not going to win anything early," O'Neill continued. "But we won first time out, and then he kind of fell apart on us at Del Mar. "But now Doug's got him going right, and he's going to be a really, really important horse." For his next start, Cobalt Blue is eyeing the $250,000 San Felipe S. (G2) at Santa Anita on March 17 or the $600,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park on March 18.
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