Beyond Brilliant one to catch in Mathis Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – Now that the idiosyncrasies of Beyond Brilliant and Law Professor are under control, the Grade 2 Mathis Mile on Sunday at Santa Anita is less complicated – what you see is what you get.

Beyond Brilliant is favored to win the Mathis, of course, following a Grade 1 victory in the Hollywood Derby. His emergence as top 3-year-old turf colt happened only after he returned to turf and developed a front-running style. Therein lies the rub.

Setting the pace is easier in a 1 1/8-mile turf race such as the Hollywood Derby than setting the pace in a mile turf race such as the Mathis. The difference between nine furlongs and eight is night and day.

“I agree 100 percent,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “The whole pace scenario is different. A mile is like a sprint.”

Fortunately for Beyond Brilliant and jockey Kent Desormeaux, the Mathis includes only one other front-runner, who is drawn to his inside. If Beyond Brilliant avoids a pace duel with claiming-caliber Cane Creek Road, Beyond Brilliant should win again. If not, the Mathis is ripe for an upset by a horse whose comeback was better than it might appear.

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Law Professor, a colt early this year, was sufficiently well regarded to take a shot in the Santa Anita Derby. He finished fifth. By late spring, it was clear to trainer Michael McCarthy that Law Professor needed a change in attitude.

“He was hard on himself, hard on everyone around him,” McCarthy said. “He never kept two feet on the ground at the same time. It was in the horse’s best interest to go ahead” and castrate.

His improvement came quickly. As a first-time gelding, Law Professor finished third in a turf allowance before taking the summer off. When he returned in November, he ran like he was reborn.

Law Professor broke from post 9 under Jose Ortiz in a mile turf allowance against older at Del Mar and lost ground start to finish – four wide on the first turn, four wide on the far turn, five wide into the lane. No matter. He won by three-quarters of a length, with something in the tank.

Ortiz is back on Law Professor for the Mathis, and though he drew outside again, Law Professor enters the Mathis representing one of racing’s most attractive wagering propositions – a sharp horse going up in class.

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“He might get beat, but he worked pretty well right now,” McCarthy said last Sunday, soon after Law Professor blew the doors off graded stakes-placed Friar’s Road in a dirt workout. Friar’s Road is a contender Sunday in the Grade 2 San Gabriel, race 5.

Beyond Brilliant from post 8 and Law Professor from post 9 are the principal starters in the nine-runner Mathis. It’s the last chance for 3-year-old turf horses to face their own age group.

Others in the nine-runner Mathis field include Du Jour, None Above the Law, Tarantino, Airman, Zoffarelli, and Flashiest.

Du Jour, a Grade 2 winner in spring at Churchill Downs, returns from a four-month layoff to a Santa Anita turf course on which he is 2 for 2. Cane Creek Road may be outclassed, but he does have speed. Claimed by Doug O’Neill for $50,000 from a front-running win, Cane Creek Road should either set the pace or press from second.

None Above the Law won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in summer, then regressed in both starts after. Tarantino, graded stakes-placed, recently was purchased at auction for $235,000. Airman, a stablemate of Beyond Brilliant, starts for the first time in six months.

In addition to Beyond Brilliant, two other Mathis entrants exit the Hollywood Derby – off-the-board finishers Zoffarelli and Flashiest. The Hollywood Derby-to-Mathis angle is worth noting – six of the last eight Mathis winners came out of the Hollywood Derby while accounting for just 26 of 76 Mathis starters.