Accelerate back on track for Friday feature

ARCADIA, Calif. –Springtime plans for Accelerate were altered last month when the colt arrived in Arkansas four days before the Oaklawn Park Handicap and was promptly sidelined with an illness.

“He got there on a Tuesday and he had a fever,” trainer John Sadler said.

The setback was minor and the recovery swift. After two workouts in the final week of April, Accelerate has been pronounced fit to resume racing in a tough optional claimer at a mile in Friday’s eighth race at Santa Anita.

The optional claimer is part of a nine-race card that includes the simulcast of the Kentucky Oaks program from Churchill Downs.

KEY CONTENDERS

Accelerate, by Lookin At Lucky
Last 3 Beyers: 100-99-101

◗ Accelerate won consecutive stakes for 3-year-olds last summer – the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar and Grade 2 Los Alamitos Derby – but is winless in his last three starts, including a third in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last November. Accelerate was second in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes in January and third in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 4.

◗ Tyler Baze has the mount in Friday’s race, which drew a field of seven.

◗ Sadler said the missed race at Oaklawn Park was a disappointment, but that Accelerate’s two recent workouts – a half-mile April 25 and five furlongs Sunday – indicate the colt has retained fitness.

“Tyler worked him [Sunday], and he liked the way he went,” Sadler said. “He had a lot of training before Oaklawn.”

Avanti Bello, by Include
Last 3 Beyers: 94-93-57

◗ Avanti Bello is perfectly suited to one-mile dirt races at Santa Anita. He won the Tiznow Stakes at the distance last May and again in February. Avanti Bello was second to Collected in the Santana Mile on April 1. Collected returned to win the Grade 2 Californian Stakes on April 22.

Danzing Candy, by Twirling Candy
Last 3 Beyers: 98-101-73

◗ Danzing Candy was 15th in the 2016 Kentucky Derby and later second in the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes in July, his first start for trainer Bob Baffert. Danzing Candy has started once this year, finishing third in the Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course March 4, his only appearance in a turf race.

◗ Danzing Candy is likely to have a pivotal role in this race as a pacesetter, but could face pressure from Smokey Image, a proven California-bred sprinter.

Ike Walker, by Bellamy Road
Last 3 Beyers: 91-89-79

◗ Claimed for $50,000 on Jan. 1, Ike Walker was third in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs in February and won an optional claimer at a mile March 17. He is a threat from the back of the field, particularly if the pace is strong.