Stonerside Stable and Blazing Meadows Farm’s TOO MUCH BLING (Rubiano)
swept four-wide turning for home and quickly powered clear to an emphatic four-length tally in the
$81,200 San Miguel S. at Santa Anita on Sunday. Trained by
Bob Baffert, Too Much Bling rated just off the pace while wide from his outside
post before putting in his lethal burst, finishing up the six furlongs in a
rapid 1:08 2/5 beneath Garrett Gomez. Sent to post as the 5-2 betting favorite,
the sophomore colt returned $7.60, $4.80 and $3.60 while topping the $15.10
exacta, $420.30 trifecta and $2,562.40 superfecta (11-6-10-8), all for $1 increments.
Cause to Believe (Maria’s Mon) rallied from last to gain a very credible
second, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of third. The 9-2 shot paid $5 and $3.60 for the
place. Bound To Be M V P (Snowbound) stayed on for the show while being up with
the leaders throughout, good for $10.20 at 27-1. Peace Chant (War Chant)
concluded the superfecta at 7-2 and was followed by Dinner Magic (Formal Dinner), The
Pharaoh (Forest Camp), Bengal Lore (Tale of the Cat), One Union (Dixie Union),
Short Circuit (Lemon Drop Kid), Cousins Lew (Slew Gin Fizz) and
Corazondelcampeon (Comic Strip).
“The fractions were really quick,” Gomez said. “I had an outside post, which
was to my advantage. I was never worried about him finishing too much because of
the way he worked the other morning (four furlongs in a bullet :46 3/5 on
December 29). I felt like if I rode him like I worked him, I was in good shape.”
“There weren’t any First Samurais (Giant’s Causeway) or Henny Hugheses
(Hennessy) in there,” Baffert said, referring to the top two finishers in the
Hopeful S. (G1) and Champagne S. (G1), in which Too Much Bling finished third
and fifth, respectively, “but he’s a better horse now (since coming back from
New York). We had to get him back here and put the air back into his body. He
was pretty light,” the trainer added.
Too Much Bling moved his mark to 6-2-0-2 with a bankroll of $102,674. The
gray broke his maiden by an impressive 19 1/2 lengths at Thistledown before
taking on Grade 1 company in New York. In his previous start, he finished sixth
in the Nashua S. (G3) at Belmont Park.
The winner was bred in Ohio by Destiny Farm and was produced from the
stakes-winning Rose Colored Lady (Formal Dinner). He was preceded in stakes
glory by his half-sister Barnsy (Langfuhr) and half-brother Ready For Roses
(More Than Ready), and has a pair of unnamed half-siblings, a two-year-old filly
by Carson City and a yearling filly by Langfuhr.