Unraced since his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), last year’s divisional champion Citizen Bull picked up right where he left off with another front-running coup in Saturday’s $200,000 Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita. The 9-10 favorite topped the trifecta for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who was winning this Kentucky Derby (G1) prep for the seventh straight year and 13th time overall.
Citizen Bull was also extending his control of the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. By adding 20 points to his account, the son of leading sire Into Mischief boosted his total to 60 points.
Although Citizen Bull was the class of the five-horse field, Baffert had cautioned the stoutly-built colt would benefit from the run. Moreover, during his winter vacation, stablemates Rodriguez and Madaket Road emerged as promising prospects themselves. Factor in the possibility of a contentious pace scenario, and Citizen Bull didn’t appear to be a slam-dunk on paper.
But the recently crowned champion two-year-old male was in no mood to relinquish his status. Other than a bobble at the start, Citizen Bull didn’t put a foot wrong. The bay rapidly recovered to take charge, leveraging his inside post 2 to outhustle Rodriguez and fellow pace player Clock Tower.
Under regular rider Martin Garcia, Citizen Bull carved out splits of :23.27 and :47.06, began to get away through six furlongs in 1:10.99, and widened his advantage down the lane. He stamped his authority by 3 3/4 lengths while finishing the mile in 1:36.71.
Rodriguez, who briefly eased back into third on the backstretch before coming on again, was best of the rest in his stakes debut (10 points). Madaket Road reported home another 2 1/4 lengths adrift in third (six points), trailed by Clock Tower (four points) and Valentines Candy (two points) in the strung-out field.
“He was fresh,” Garcia said. “When I was warming him up, he just wanted to go and you could see that he was ready. When the gates opened it was like the ground broke underneath him. He just broke too fast. Right away he recovered and I just sat, sat, sat and he took me right away. Bob knows when the horses are ready, that’s why he is in the Hall of Fame. He knows when the horse is ready.
“My horse took the pressure, and he was just so mature and professional.
“When he made the lead, he kind of pinned his ears forward, and he was waiting around for company. He was just messing around; he wasn’t very focused. He had one ear forward and one ear backwards; that means you have plenty of horse left.”
Baffert believes that there’s more to come.
“He is a big, strong, heavy horse, and he handled it well,” Baffert said. “He wasn’t cranked up totally, but he is such a good horse that he just caught another gear.
“The champ is back. The ‘Bull’ looked good coming down (the stretch). It’s funny you see him and you don’t realize that he has those gears. He won’t show you that in the morning, but he does have gears.
“My other horses (Rodriguez and Madaket Road) ran really well. They are learning their styles, and they need a little more racing. We are happy, and especially winning the Robert B. Lewis, because he was one of my favorite clients of all time. It is so nice.”
Citizen Bull and Rodriguez share the same ownership consortium of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan. Nearly all of the same partners are involved in Madaket Road, with the exception being Stonestreet.
Citizen Bull’s scorecard now stands at 5-4-0-1, $1,421,000, including consecutive wins in the American Pharoah (G1), Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and now the Lewis. The Del Mar debut winner sustained his only loss when third in the Del Mar Futurity (G1), where he lagged uncharacteristically off the pace for Mike Smith.
Bred by Robert and Lawana Low in Kentucky, Citizen Bull went to his current connections for $675,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. His dam, the Distorted Humor mare No Joke, is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 queen Moonshine Memories and Grade 2-place stakes scorer Indian Evening. This is the further family of 1997 Horse of the Year Favorite Trick and multiple Grade 1 star Tiz the Law, the Belmont (G1) and Travers (G1) winner in 2020.
In other stakes action from Santa Anita Saturday, Spendthrift Farm’s Kopion followed up her La Brea (G1) conquest in the $196,000 Santa Monica (G2) over the same track and seven-furlong trip. Only this time, the Richard Mandella pupil was respected as the 6-5 favorite, not overlooked at 37-1. The other three entrants were all trained by Baffert.
With Antonio Fresu aboard, Kopion prompted Hope Road through fractions of :22.67 and :45.04 before asserting by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:21.27. Hope Road held second, while Richi checked in third, and Splendora trailed the quartet.
Kopion, from the first crop of Omaha Beach, sports a mark of 6-4-1-0, $434,600. The chestnut also garnered the course-and-distance Santa Ynez (G3). Her losses have come at a mile or beyond, when second in the Las Virgenes (G3) and fourth in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2).
Augustin Stables’ homebred Rashmi broke through with her first stakes laurel in the $101,000 Megahertz (G3) going a mile on turf. Dispatched as the 1.90-1 favorite off a fourth in the American Oaks (G1), the Jonathan Thomas filly worked out a stalk-and-pounce trip for Frankie Dettori. Rashmi powered 2 1/2 lengths clear while clocking 1:34.19. Mahina and Liguria got up for second and third, respectively.
Rashmi, a daughter of Oscar Performance, has earned $150,736 from an 8-4-1-1 record.
“She has really taken to California,” Thomas said. “She has gotten stronger and she had some confidence builders at Del Mar, in those starter races. I thought she ran deceptively good in the American Oaks here. We are really excited to get back to the winner’s circle.
“We are very fortunate. I think I have the best crew I’ve ever had. We have good riders that care very much and great guys in the stalls. The horses are very well looked after, and they make my job very easy.”
Later in the $102,000 Thunder Road (G3), lightly-raced six-year-old El Potente blasted to his first stakes win in 1:32.39 for the grassy mile. Trained by Dan Blacker for My Way Racing, the 3-2 favorite tracked pacesetter Air Force Red and accelerated to a three-length decision. Seal Team rode the rail in a sharp rally from last, relegating Air Force Red to third.
El Potente’s resume now reads 14-6-2-2, $248,796. The son of Temple City was third in his only prior stakes attempt in the Oct. 19 Lure S.
“It was just patience,” Blacker said. “He needed time to really mature and reach his peak. We just gave him time when he needed it, and (owner) Mike (Way) has been so patient and allowed him to do it. Now we are reaping the rewards.
“A lot of credit goes to (jockey) Hector (Berrios). He really gets him to switch off and he runs for him too. You can see when he asks him to go, that turn of foot there. I think he responds really well for Hector.”
