All Out Blitz tested for class, stamina in Sham Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday will provide a vital test for the 3-year-old All Out Blitz on a couple of fronts.

The $100,000 race will be the first start at a mile and the stakes debut for All Out Blitz, a promising maiden-race winner last month.

“It’s time to try two turns and test the company,” trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday.

The Sham field is coming up with surprising depth. McKinzie, the winner via disqualification of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity on Dec. 9, is among seven probable starters.

All Out Blitz, owned by breeder Kaleem Shah, won a six-furlong maiden race by a nose at Los Alamitos on Dec. 17 after finishing fifth and third in his first two starts, which came in October and November. Since the win, All Out Blitz has worked quickly, notably a half-mile in 47 seconds on Dec. 27.

All Out Blitz’s behavior since the workout clinched his appearance in the Sham Stakes, Callaghan said.

“We wanted to monitor him out of his recent workout,” Callaghan said. “Initially, we were thinking of waiting, but he’s showing signs of doing good.”

The Sham Stakes is the first stakes for 3-year-olds in Southern California this year and is part of the buildup to the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

Other candidates for the Sham Stakes include City Plan, Here is Happy, Mourinho, My Boy Jack, and Shivermetimbers.

Trainer Bob Baffert said McKinzie will not race with blinkers, even though he wore them in the Los Alamitos Futurity.

Baffert said that Mourinho, who was second in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 11, will be fitted with blinkers. Mourinho wore blinkers for his first two starts, including a maiden-race win, but not in the Bob Hope Stakes.