The 1-2 favorite was looking to emulate reigning Horse of the Year and
Mischief Clem, who had been pressing the early pace while wide on the
“We were pretty disappointed in his last effort; we’ve always been real high
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“The races just didn’t go well, none of them did. He’d either miss a step,
hop a start, get stuck inside or last time, he was just too aggressive. In a
nutshell, today he was finally able to put everything together and I was able to
ride him off my finger tips and he was just the consummate professional and he
got a picture taken.”
Pulmarack (Lucky Pulpit) was best of the rest, 5 3/4 lengths up on Kluszewski
(Northern Afleet) in third.
“He never switched to his right lead and I think that cost him,” asserted
Pulmarack’s rider, Drayden Van Dyke. “I think his staying on his left lead
mattered and he did hang a little with that other horse. I just think he’s still
a little green. If he switches leads, he would win the race.”
Acceptance finished another 6 1/2 lengths back in fourth.
“He’s been training all right, but for whatever reason…we’ll probably find
out tomorrow when we get back…hopefully he’s fine,” puzzled Kenny Black,
assistant to Acceptance’s trainer Don Warren. “He just hung it up for some
reason. Right now I’m a little bit mystified, because he had everything his own
way. He got a little hot going to the gate today, so that’s a little concerning.
He was working good and doing everything right; he just didn’t have it today, I
guess.”
Mischief Clem captured his initial two races last fall at Del Mar and Santa
Anita against state-bred company before running up against Acceptance for the
first time while making his stakes bow in the Golden State Juvenile. The Bob
Hess Jr. pupil finished third that day, then was a head second against open
optional claiming rivals at Del Mar on November 21 before closing out his
two-year-old campaign with a fourth-placing behind Acceptance in the King
Glorious S. last out on December 14.
“The horse has a ton of heart,” Hess praised. “I questioned his ability to go
this far. I think he came through today, and I think more than anything, this is
his home track. He loves it here. We were able to train him here, school him
here; I didn’t do that last time, and it showed today.
“The two horse (Acceptance) is a wonderful horse. He didn’t run his best race
today, but he’s a wonderful horse, so no disrespect to him at all. But our horse
ran his A-plus race today.”
With this first stakes win, Mischief Clem improved his career record to
6-3-1-1 while banking $266,380. Though Hess said a “plan of attack” is still in
the works, he did mention the $550,000 Spiral S. (G3) at Turfway Park on March
21.
Singing Kitty (Ministers Wild Cat) got the best of 9-5 favorite Heat the
Rocks (Unusual Heat) in the $200,000
California Cup Oaks to kick off the stakes
action on Cal Cup Day.
With Aaron Gryder holding the reins, the bay filly stalked in midpack while
52-1 longshot Swiss Skimmer (Swiss Yodeler) led the way through splits of :22
2/5, :46 2/5 and 1:11 1/5. Singing Kitty swung out four wide in the lane and
quickly took command, holding a one-length advantage over Heat the Rocks on the
wire. She paid $17.40 as the 7-1 fourth choice.
Trained by Matthew Chew for Chris Aulds, Peter Jeong and Brandon Hillman,
Singing Kitty ran a mile on Santa Anita’s firm turf in 1:35 3/5 to add a first
stakes win to her resume, which now stands at 7-3-0-0, $175,438. The
three-year-old miss took her maiden debut at Santa Anita last June, but was
unable to hit the board in three subsequent starts until lining up against
claiming company on December 11 at Los Alamitos. She was claimed out of that 2
3/4-length score, but couldn’t give her new connections a win when seventh while
making her grass debut in the Blue Norther S. at Santa Anita on New Year’s Day.
“She was brought to my attention by a friend of mine who suggested that I
take a look at her,” Chew said. “I brought it up to the owners and we all agreed
to take a shot.
“We threw her into the Blue Norther to see how she would handle the turf and
the distance and we felt like off that race, into today would be a drop in
class. We thought it was a strong race and she gave a good showing. She has
adapted to the turf well. I’ve breezed her over it and she seems to love it.”
Tyler Baze guided the Blaine Wright trainee as he tugged his way into an
“Going into the far turn I had some trouble,” Baze explained. “(Rafael)
“We scooted out a tough one there today,” Wright agreed. “We could have come
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“Myself, I sweat these things out a little bit.”
“I had a great position,” Bejarano said after G. G. Ryder finished eighth. “I
was in my lane and the winner didn’t have room to come in, but he came in on me
and crossed us. There wasn’t enough room, so it completely shut me off and I had
to stop my horse.”
Alert Bay paid $7.80 as the near 3-1 favorite in the race and ran 1 1/8 miles
on the firm turf in 1:47 3/5. Boozer was a head up on third-placer Patriots Rule
(Tribal Rule), and it was a half-length back to Big Bane Theory (Artie
Schiller), who just got his neck in front to take fourth from Super Ability.
Alert Bay has now captured his last five races, all against stakes rivals.
The four-year-old gelding began his current win streak last September at
Hastings Park in the British Columbia Derby (Can-G3) and British Columbia
Premier’s H. (Can-G3), followed up with a three-length tally in the Zia Park
Derby, and closed out 2014 with a neck victory in the Mathis Brothers Mile S.
(G2) at Santa Anita Park on December 26. With a scorecard that reads 14-8-4-1,
the dark bay has accumulated $754,707 in career earnings.
“He’s taken me places,” Wright said. “I thought my barn was kind of coming
up, and Mr. Redekop has put some good horses in my hands, and this horse has
taken me to a level where you certainly want to be. I’m very proud to be a part
of it.”
Ignacio Puglisi sent the bay gelding straight to the front to duel with 3-5
“The break helped us out a ton,” Puglisi noted. “He was in (the gate) a
“He’s a big horse and whenever he draws outside and he gets near the lead,
“He just got outrun today,” sighed San Onofre’s jockey, Mike Smith. “I
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Spirit Rules earned his first stakes win in this spot following a trio of
black-type placings in 2014. The bay was second in the Bertrando S. and third in
the Katella S., both at Los Alamitos, while also placing third in the Harris
Farm S. at Fresno to close out the year in early October. The Cal Cup Sprint
improved his record to 16-5-2-4 while bumping his career bankroll to $318,378.
Also on the Cal Cup Day program was the $151,750
Sunshine Millions Filly &
Mare Turf Sprint. Peter Redekop B.C. Ltd.’s Go West Marie (Western Fame)
prevailed over Home Journey (Good Journey) by three parts of a length with
jockey Gary Stevens in the irons.
The Eddie Truman-trained four-year-old filly split foes in midstretch after
settling near the back of the 12-distaffer field early on. Home Journey had been
in command throughout the race, setting fractions of :21 1/5, :42 4/5 and 1:05
4/5, but the 16-1 shot could not withstand Go West Marie’s late rally. The
winner ran about 6 1/2 furlongs on the firm downhill turf in 1:12, returning $13
as the 5-1 third pick. Heat Trap (Unusual Heat), the 2-1 favorite who was
exiting a runner-up effort in the Monrovia S. (G2) on January 4, finished sixth.
“This race wasn’t really our choice,” Truman admitted. “We think she’s better
going long but we wanted a Cal-bred race. Her last race was open company and
this really was our only option for Cal-breds.
“She is just so sweet. She’s maturing and getting so much smarter and
kinder.”
“The key with a filly like this is they’re professional,” Stevens added. “Let
them settle and they’re going to finish for you.”
Go West Marie now shows two stakes wins on her resume after taking the Fleet
Treat S. last summer at Del Mar, and boosted her earnings to $402,520 to go
along with a 17-5-1-5 career mark.
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