Rebounds were the theme in Santa Anita’s graded stakes on Sunday. Straight No Chaser was back to his brilliant best in the $201,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2), and Sugar Fish resumed her forward march in the $200,000 Zenyatta (G2).
Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2)
MyRacehorse’s Straight No Chaser put on an exhibition of pure, unadulterated speed, running his rivals off their feet and himself straight into calculations for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).
There was no question that the Dan Blacker trainee was capable of such a performance, considering his similar demolition job in the 2023 Maryland Sprint (G3) on Preakness Day. The rub was that he raced only once in the interim.
Flubbing the start in the May 11 Runhappy (G3) at Aqueduct, Straight No Chaser checked in fourth off the year-long layoff. Then he scratched from the July 29 Bing Crosby (G1). Would we see his spark of brilliance again, or was it a flash in the pan?
The Santa Anita Sprint Championship provided an answer. Once Straight No Chaser broke beautifully, the rest of the race turned out to be a mere formality.
The slight 3-2 second choice glided through fractions of :21.83 and :44.28 and widened his margin to 6 1/4 lengths down the lane. With John Velazquez essentially playing the role of a passenger, the son of Speightster clocked six furlongs in 1:08.54.
“I just put my hands down and kept the reins loose, keeping him comfortable,” Velazquez recapped. “Even though he was going this fast, it felt like he wasn’t going that fast. He was just comfortable.”
Velazquez complimented Blacker for having Straight No Chaser ready to fire, and the trainer in turn noted how well the Hall of Fame rider gets along with the talented sprinter.
Roll on Big Joe was a clear second by 2 1/2 lengths from See Through It, who rallied from last to grab third. The Bob Baffert-trained Fort Bragg, the 3-2 favorite, was a one-paced fourth in his belated seasonal reappearance. Next came Mbagnick; For All Mankind, who tried to go with Straight No Chaser early and paid the price by the far turn; and Neiman.
Straight No Chaser’s second career stakes win improved his resume to 9-5-0-1, $376,300. If he can avoid any more niggling physical issues, the five-year-old has the ability to take charge of the sprint division.
Blacker expressed his gratitude to the MyRacehorse team for their enduring patience.
“Let the horse train himself and don’t rush him,” Blacker said, describing the right approach. “We had an eventful year with him with little issues coming up, but they have just been so patient with us and let us give him some time to get right and ready. This is the end result.”
Bred by John Eaton and Steve Laymon in Kentucky, Straight No Chaser was purchased for $110,000 as a two-year-old in training at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic’s May Sale. His dam, the Johannesburg mare Margarita Friday, also foaled stakes winner Hangover Saturday.
Further back, this is the family of current Black-Eyed Susan (G2) heroine Gun Song, most recently a bang-up second to Thorpedo Anna in the Cotillion (G1), and Hall of Famer Housebuster.
Zenyatta (G2)
Already an open-looking renewal in the wake of Adare Manor’s retirement, the Zenyatta lost a prime contender with the vet scratch of Flying Connection. The lack of a standout was reflected in the wagering.
Bettors made Baffert’s Nothing Like You the slight favorite at 1.90-1, but the 2.30-1 Desert Dawn and the 2.60-1 Sugar Fish made for a crowded top of the market. Alpha Bella, the 8-5 choice on the morning line, drifted up to 3.70-1 with some uncertainty about how the turf marathoner would stack up on the switch to dirt. The lone longshot was Che Evasora, an Argentine import who went off at 15-1 in her U.S. debut.
Alpha Bella took a nosedive when the gate opened but recovered to take the early lead. Putting her head in front of Nothing Like You through an opening quarter in :23.65, Alpha Bella gained firmer control in splits of :48.25 and 1:12.42. Sugar Fish was allowed to get comfortable at the back of the compact group.
As Nothing Like You came up empty on the far turn and the stalking Desert Dawn failed to punch, Alpha Bella swung into the stretch in a commanding position. But Sugar Fish, who had been creeping closer on the inside at every call, had good-looking momentum.
After initially appearing intent on angling Sugar Fish out, jockey Tyler Baze dove back for a rail run. The Jeff Mullins sophomore outkicked the older Alpha Bella by 1 1/2 lengths and completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.53.
The rest of the field was well strung out behind the top two. Alpha Bella crossed the wire nine lengths ahead of Desert Dawn, who was herself had 3 3/4 lengths to spare over Nothing Like You. Che Evasora tracked early before giving way and ultimately eased home last.
Co-owned by Sweetwater Stable and Talla Racing, Sugar Fish was rapidly progressive at Santa Anita this spring. Her ascent culminated in a 9 3/4-length rout of the Summertime Oaks (G2) despite a terrible stumble at the start that normally eliminates a horse.
Sugar Fish didn’t run up to that level on the venue change to Del Mar in the Aug. 3 Clement L. Hirsch (G1), where she checked in a poor sixth. The difference on Sunday was returning to the Great Race Place, according to connections.
“Today, she’s back home,” Baze said. “She’s so comfortable and trained so good last week. I had a lot of confidence in her and I just rode her like that. I knew she would be there when I asked her. The other morning when I worked her, she was just weaving in and out of horses and just worked great. I had a perfect trip. She showed up and that’s what matters.”
“She loves this place,” Sweetwater Stable’s Kim Lloyd said. “She didn’t enjoy Del Mar. There’s nothing wrong with Del Mar, but for her she wasn’t that happy there.
“She loves it here, so she is on her game, and she wants to run. No matter where she is, if you are a little relaxed around that first turn and around the backside, when it is time to kick in at the 3 1/2 (furlong) pole, she is ready to go.”
Sugar Fish’s feelings toward Del Mar suggest that it might be wiser to skip the Breeders’ Cup Distaff G1). Lloyd sounded circumspect for that very reason.
“I would love to run in a Breeders’ Cup,” her co-owner said. “Del Mar is my favorite track. But the horse has to make that decision.”
Lloyd also commented on the bright future overall in store for Sugar Fish, whose scorecard stands at 8-4-1-0, $310,040.
“This filly is a three-year-old and is really hitting the big level now, so I’m so excited about it.”
Sugar Fish was bred by George Gilbert in Kentucky and sold for $40,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. The only graded winner sired by champion Accelerate, she is out of Canadian Grade 3 scorer Madeira Park. The Langfuhr mare is a full sister to the prolific Langara Lass, the dam of 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up Lookin at Lee, multiple Grade 3 victor Blended Citizen, and Grade 1-placed stakes winner Battlefield Angel, who is herself responsible for millionaire Manny Wah.
