Chips All In wins the pot in Eddie D

Chips All In is now a four-time stakes winner over the Santa Anita turf (benoit Photos) A return to Santa Anita was all it took for Chips All In to end a two-race losing streak in Friday’s Grade 3, $101,750 Eddie D, the feature on the opening day program of the fall meeting at the Arcadia, California, course. Fourth and second in two recent starts at Del Mar, Chips All In was well-placed to strike as he descended the downhill turf course in the about 6 1/2-furlong dash. Advancing from third into second crossing the main track, the 5-2 second choice steadily wore down long-time leader Rosengold inside the final eighth and just held off a late surge from 7-1 chance Boat Trip to win by a nose under Julien Leparoux. The final time over firm ground was 1:12. “He broke pretty good, and I tried to put him in the race,” Leparoux said. “And then I just tried to be clear and not have any traffic. I put him where he was clear, and he put me there easy. I thought I felt someone coming on the outside, and he went on.

“He loves this track and loves this distance.”

Boat Trip finished a half-length ahead of Unbridled’s Note, the 2012 Eddie D
winner and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint runner-up. Next under the wire were
Caracortado, Snowday, El Mirage King, Rock Me Baby, Et Tu Walker, Rosengold, who
set splits of :21 3/5 and :43 3/5, Huntsville, Sirocco Strike, and Majestic
City. Scratched from the field were Handsome Mike and Koast.

Chips All In is owned by the partnership of Jean Everest, John O’Brien, Danny
Valdez, and Michelle Turpin. When asked about a possible start in the upcoming
Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, trainer Jeff Mullins was
non-committal.

“He’s not eligible,” Mullins said. “That’s going to be up to the owners.
They’re going to have to come up with a lot of money (the supplemental fee is
$100,000). We’ll see how he comes out of this, regroup and see what they want to
do. You never know.”

Chips All In has now won four times in five attempts over the Santa Anita
turf, all in stakes company. His other trips to the winner’s circle followed
victories in the San Simeon on April 20, the 2012 edition of the Pasadena, and
the 2011 Eddie Logan. His only defeat on the course was a photo-finish beat by
Unbridled’s Note in last February’s Joe Hernandez Handicap.

Elsewhere, the four-year-old son of Epsom Derby winner North Light has placed
in the La Jolla Handicap and a division of the Oceanside at Del Mar, and the
Alcatraz and the Golden Nugget at Golden Gate Fields. The dual Grade 3 winner’s career mark now stands
at 16-7-5-1, $410,613.

Bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, Chips All In was a $4,500 Keeneland
September yearling. Produced by the multiple stakes-winning Maria’s Mirage, a
daughter of Maria’s Mon, Chips All In hails from the family of Grade 2 winner
Advance Man.

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