Separated by a head in a November 23 maiden at Del Mar, Shivermetimbers and Peace will square off again in Saturday’s $150,000 Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita, a Kentucky Derby (G1) prep offering qualifying points of 10-4-2-1 to the top four finishers.
Shivermetimbers got the edge over Peace by a head in that one-mile race, but faded to fourth in last month’s Sham (G3) after tracking the pace. Peace, however, came back to graduate in his third start, wearing down Regulate to win by three parts of a length in a somewhat pedestrian time of 1:46 2/5 for 1 1/16 miles, which he again travels in the Lewis, this time while sporting blinkers for the first time.
Also adding blinkers is Ayacara, a stakes-placed son of Violence. A maiden winner going a mile at Del Mar last August, the colt was a distant fourth to Bolt d’Oro in the FrontRunner (G1) and then missed by less than a length in the $76,000 Gold Rush at Golden Gate Fields. A return to dirt could produce a wake-up after a non-threatening sixth in the $78,000 Eddie Logan on grass.
Second by a head in the Eddie Logan was Inscom, who has raced exclusively on turf since finishing last of six in his debut at Los Alamitos. Prior to the sharp try in the Eddie Logan, the son of Distorted Humor endured traffic when fifth to Analyze It in the Cecil B. DeMille (G3) at Del Mar.
Besides Peace, there are several other colt exiting maiden wins. Pepe Tono turned in an 11-1 upset when doing so after rallying from 13 lengths down two weeks ago. Lombo also comes back on short rest after winning at 6 1/2 furlongs on January 20 and is sure to be showing speed from the start. Dark Vader showed notable improvement in his first try with blinkers on dirt when breaking his maiden at Los Alamitos by a nose.
The field is rounded out by Regulate and Blame the Rider, both maidens.
