Despite four important wins and three seconds on Santa Anita’s major
Breeders’ Cup program at Santa Anita Saturday, Gary Stevens was not resting on
his laurels on a picturesque Sunday morning at The Great Race Place. Far from
it.
Nearly a year into his return to the saddle at the age of 50 after a
seven-year retirement, Gary Stevens is looking to the future. And why not?
On Saturday he finished second on She’s a Tiger in the Grade 1 Chandelier
Stakes; second aboard Marketing Mix in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes; won the
Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes on Beholder; won the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes on
Mucho Macho Man; and capped his day with a win aboard Ponchatrain in the
lost-in-the-shuffle Unzip Me Stakes.
Looking fresh and fit, Stevens was able to encapsulate in typically
articulate fashion his memorable experience.
“My good friend Mike Tice (former Minnesota Vikings head coach) texted me
yesterday and said, ‘I see you’re on a bunch, which ones do you like?’ I said,
‘You know me; all of ’em,’ so he texted me last night and said, ‘Man, you
weren’t lying.’
“I had some tough beats. She’s a Tiger is really going to benefit from
yesterday’s race, so I look forward to her coming back in the Breeders’ Cup
(Juvenile Fillies). Obviously, it was a tough loss for Marketing Mix (beaten a
head), too. I think she’ll move forward as well.
“They were tough beats but I was able to shake them off and say, ‘Well, I’ve
got four more really good chances here, and being able to pull it off was a
pretty good feeling.”
Hard to speculate that Beholder and Mucho Macho Man could run any better than
they did Saturday, but Stevens said he thinks they, too, will benefit.
Despite his wondrous day on the race track, the best was yet to come for
Stevens Saturday.
“I didn’t sleep at all last night, to be honest with you,” the Hall of Famer
said. “I celebrated a little bit after the races, but when got home, my son
(Tory C., known as T.C.) had a runner (Sultry Warrior) in the 10TH race at
Churchill Downs last night. I got home in time to see it and he won his first
race (as a trainer).
“It paid $104.40 and I think I got more wound up over that than the day I
had.”
Proving once again that blood is thicker than water, or money either, for
that matter.
In other Breeders’ Cup news from Santa Anita:
Trainer Kathy Ritvo said that Mucho Macho Man will remain at the Arcadia,
California, track after his dominating Awesome Again win and train here for the
Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Outside of not winning Saturday’s Awesome Again Stakes with Paynter, who
finished a game second to 4 1/4-length winner Mucho Macho Man, Bob Baffert
couldn’t have been more encouraged with Paynter’s performance.
“He took the worst of it but never quit running,” Baffert said of the
four-year-old son of Awesome Again who almost died from laminitis and colitis in
2012.
“He ran hard, and he’s still a little rusty, but I think he caught up
yesterday. He never gave it up. He’s a tough horse. That’s the first time he’s
ever taken a lot of dirt. He got a pretty good schooling yesterday. He ran well.
“When Mucho Macho Man runs his race, he’s a really good horse. He ran his
race yesterday. I watched the Jockey Club Gold Cup (at Belmont Park) and Ron the
Greek was very impressive, too.”
Meanwhile, in addition to Paynter, Baffert has Game On Dude sitting at the
ready for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which, after Saturday, became what appears
to be the most eagerly anticipated race of the year.
Richard Mandella said he “couldn’t be happier” with how Beholder ran and how
she came out of the Zenyatta.
Trainer Larry Jones plans to ship Joyful Victory back east following her
third to Beholder in the Zenyatta.
“We’ll head to Churchill and if she comes out of this good, we’ll come back
(for the Distaff),” Jones said.
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