Robert B. Lewis Stakes

COUNTDOWN REWIND: BOB LEWIS MEMORIAL STAKES

By Jeremy Plonk

Date: Saturday, February 2, 2013

Track: Santa Anita

Kentucky Derby Points Awarded: 10-4-2-1

Distance: 1-1/16 miles (2 turns)

HANDICAPPERS’ RECAP: In the basketball game of H-O-R-S-E, you get to pick your shot and it’s up to the other players to see if they can match what you’ve done. That’s pretty much what we saw in the Grade 2 $200,000 Bob Lewis Memorial as FLASHBACK (Bob Baffert) was handed the ball and the trophy.  With only a field of four and absolutely no apparent pace pressure on the fast and talented debut winner FLASHBACK, there was no reason to think that the son of Tapit would not be able to handle the class rise. The field included HE’S HAD ENOUGH (Doug O’Neill), runner-up in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but equally frustrating in more starts than successful. DEN’S LEGACY (Baffert) made this seventh straight stakes start while boasting a record more consistent than formidable. FLASHBACK’s pace advantage and promise of talent made him a 1-2 favorite with just cause, and he obliged to score by more than six lengths.

ON THE CLOCK: Allowed to call his own shots on the front, jockey Julien Leparoux exercised his typical patience with 24.17 and 24.52 opening quarters aboard FLASHBACK, holding the token pressure from HE’S HAD ENOUGH at bay. Asked to quicken nicely heading toward the far turn, FLASHBACK popped a nice 23.48 third quarter that meant business. He then came home in 24.36 and 6.42 the final sixteenth as he widened with every stride. The final time of 1:42.95 won’t compare with I’ll Have Another’s 1:40.84 in this race a year ago, but notably Santa Anita’s main track isn’t nearly as fast as it was a winter ago. By any account this was as solid on the clock as you’d expect given the pace scenario and field size.

THE EYE TEST: As we noted in Friday’s Countdown preview of the Lewis, we weren’t going to learn much about this exhibition of sorts, and we didn’t. FLASHBACK did all that you could ask of him and looked good doing it, which was expected. I did like that FLASHBACK left the gate like a professional, and not a run-off sprinter. He took command of the race heading into the clubhouse turn on his own terms. The token pressure from HE’S HAD ENOUGH didn’t engage him into doing more than he should have been. Spinning off the far turn, you couldn’t corner any stronger than FLASHBACK did, which is another good sign. Leparoux hand-urged him through the wire, which I liked to see as he got something out of the stretch run instead of a semi-canter. The gallop-out was solid in a performance you had to like and urges you to anticipate what’s next. HE’S HAD ENOUGH was taken out of his usual closing style and put in pursuit mode, which could make this a toss-out race for him. But he disappointed this eye, and I may be his biggest fan as someone who picked him at big odds in the BC Juvenile. DEN’S LEGACY didn’t do much with a great trip and LITTLE JERRY was overmatched. This four-horse field earns only a high mark for the winner, but an incomplete grade may be the bottom line.

PROJECTING THE LEWIS FORWARD: Baffert is loaded with speedy types he can take out of town for Oaklawn invasions; so expect FLASHBACK to be his Santa Anita Derby main squeeze. With only two starts under his belt to date, I would prefer to see two more preps before the Derby to build foundation and give him four starts before Louisville if he’s meant to get there.  Stablemate Bodemeister had four runs prior to last year’s Derby and just couldn’t seal the deal with a big lead in the stretch. As talented as this horse could be, you still have a distance question with the Mr. Greeley on the damside of the pedigree. His older sister Zazu displayed fantastic talent, but was neutralized some beyond 1-1/16 miles. I don’t think Baffert will get this horse to 1-1/4 miles just from training and the Santa Anita Derby given the pedigree and foundation that exists. I hope he harkens Ernie Banks and decides to play two. Runner-up DEN’S LEGACY continues to earn checks and find the right spots and is a useful sort who might be a good Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby raider. HE’S HAD ENOUGH likely stays on the west coast trail and simply has to put it all together at some point. There’s talent, but he must soon scream his candidacy for the Triple Crown with some consistency. If owner Paul Reddam and O’Neill are stricken with Derby fever to repeat their win a year ago, you conceivably could see this one shopped around for an easier spot than the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, and the Grade 3 Spiral or Grade 1 Blue Grass could be viable options.