Affirmed could send McVay on to bigger and better things

Months of frustration, including losses in three graded stakes, ended when the 3-year-old Mc Vay rallied to win a maiden race by seven lengths at Santa Anita on May 18.

The result was a comprehensive turnaround from races earlier this year and left trainer John Shirreffs wondering if Mc Vay will continue to show sufficient progress to proceed to a major stakes in the coming months.

“We’d like to think so,” he said. “We’d like to see him continue to improve.”

A win in Sunday’s $100,000 Affirmed Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita would make such a goal more likely. Last year’s Affirmed winner, Geaux Rocket Ride, later won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and was second in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in September.

Mc Vay has little to beat in the Affirmed, which drew only five runners, all of whom seeking their first stakes wins.

Cornell and Parenting won maiden races in their last starts for trainer Bob Baffert. Cornell, supplemented to the Affirmed for $2,000 on Thursday, has not raced since he beat maidens at a mile on Jan. 28.

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Parenting won his debut in a maiden race at six furlongs on April 26. The Affirmed is his second start.

Miracle Mark, third in two stakes on turf since November, will start in a dirt stakes for the first time Sunday. Scatify starts in a stakes for the first time since he finished last of four in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in March. He has since finished second in allowance races at Keeneland and Santa Anita.

Mc Vay, a $1.25 million yearling purchase, was third in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe, but only seventh of eight after a troubled trip in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6. The loss ended any discussion of a possible start in a Triple Crown race.

Instead, Shirreffs focused on getting Mc Vay to the winner’s circle. Owned by Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable, Mc Vay raced wide throughout in his maiden race win, rallying from eighth in a field of nine to take the lead on the turn under jockey Mike Smith.

Shirreffs said he changed Mc Vay’s bit before the maiden race, which “gave the rider more control.

“I think the change of equipment helped,” he said.

Smith was back aboard Mc Vay for a five-furlong workout in 1:00 on May 30.

Mc Vay drew post 2 in the Affirmed but may again race from well off the rail.

“It depends on how the break from the gate goes,” Shirreffs said. “I’m sure Mike wants to get lined up before he gets to the turn and he doesn’t want to make adjustments on the turn.”

If such a strategy results in a win, Mc Vay could be starting in a much grander race soon.

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