Big Sweep takes on the boys in Echo Eddie Stakes

Fillies run here, colts and geldings run there. It is racing protocol, most of the time.

Then along comes Big Sweep to disrupt tradition Saturday at Santa Anita. The filly will forgo a gender-restricted stakes race Saturday and instead take on colts and geldings in the $150,000 Echo Eddie Stakes for 3-year-olds bred in California.

Trainer Mark Glatt has not lost his mind, even if the Echo Eddie purse is the same as the $150,000 Evening Jewel for fillies, and even if a race open to both sexes normally is stronger than a field restricted by gender. But the Echo Eddie and Evening Jewel are different this year.

“As we evaluated the nominations, we just thought there was less speed” in the Echo Eddie, Glatt said. “We nominated to both races, and we just thought maybe our best chance this time is against the boys.”

Glatt is right. The 5-2 program favorite, Big Sweep must deal with front-runners Stir the Pot and Bettor Trip Nick in the Echo Eddie, race 6, but the pace scenario and quality is softer than in the Evening Jewel, race 8. Both races were postponed from April 4 and shortened a half-furlong to six furlongs.

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Nine entered the Echo Eddie, including Grade 3-winning comebacker Phantom Boss and minor stakes winners Club Aspen and Bettor Trip Nick. Others include Rookie Mistake, Audace, Summer Fire, and Project Leader.

The postponement benefits Big Sweep, an impressive front-running debut winner March 14. She would have been jamming back on short notice if the Echo Eddie and Evening Jewel were run as scheduled.

“We were a little concerned about the three-week run-back off her debut,” Glatt said. “Now, it’s a little more time that we wanted.”

Big Sweep, whose 83 Beyer tops the field, is drawn in post 8. She carries only 115 pounds, five to nine pounds fewer than her rivals.

Big Sweep’s redirection forced the hand of jockey Flavien Prat, who was expected to ride Phantom Boss in the Echo Eddie. Prat sticks with Big Sweep, Drayden Van Dyke picks up the mount on Phantom Boss.

Jorge Periban trains Phantom Boss, whose 2-year-old campaign included a victory in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs. He underwent arthroscopic surgery for a bone chip after he misfired in a California-bred stakes at Del Mar in August.

Periban expects Phantom Boss to fire first start back.

“He’s the kind of horse that loves to train – he does everything right,” Periban said. “I expect him to run well. He’s bigger, stronger” than last year.

Phantom Boss does not have a recorded workout during the month of April, but Periban said he trained and worked during that time at Lovacres Ranch in San Diego County.