Brickyard Ride, Warrens Candy Girl, Catalina Eddy could make for great Memorial Day weekend

Success at Santa Anita on Friday and Saturday may have been the groundwork for a blockbuster Memorial Day weekend for California trainer Craig Lewis.

On Saturday, the 6-year-old Brickyard Ride won the eighth stakes of his career in the Grade 3 Kona Gold Stakes for sprinters at 6 1/2 furlongs. Earlier in the day, the 5-year-old mare Warrens Candy Girl unleashed a remarkable rally in the final furlong that led to a narrow win in an allowance race for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.

On Friday, Catalina Eddy won for the second time in his last three starts in an allowance race for California-bred 3-year-olds at a mile on turf, his first start around two turns.

All three could start in stakes at Santa Anita on May 27 and 28, though Lewis was non-committal on Sunday about race plans for Brickyard Ride. Options for Brickyard Ride include two Grade 3 stakes on May 27 – the $200,000 Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs or the $100,000 Daytona Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course – or the $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for statebreds at six furlongs on May 28.

:: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.

“It’s all up in the air,” Lewis said. “It depends on what’s available when he’s right.”

Brickyard Ride, who races for owner and breeder Sonny Pais, has won 13 of 25 starts and earned $816,977. He has won 10 times on dirt, including seven stakes at distances ranging from six furlongs to a mile, and three times on turf, including the Sensational Star Stakes on the hillside turf course in March 2022.

“I don’t think he has a preference,” Lewis said of race surface. “He’s won 13 races. When they do that, they’re versatile.”

In the $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes, Brickyard Ride led throughout as the 4-5 favorite, and held off a late threat from Anarchist to win by a half-length, finishing 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.84.

“He switched leads very late, about 10 yards from the wire,” Lewis said. “He got the job done.”

The Kona Gold was Brickyard Ride’s first win since the 2022 Kona Gold Stakes. Brickyard Ride had one start in 2022 after the Kona Gold last April, finishing fifth at 3-10 in the Triple Bend Stakes. He was sidelined for the remainder of 2022 with a bone chip in an ankle.

Brickyard Ride was third in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on the hillside turf course in his first start of 2023 on March 5.

Warrens Candy Girl, who races for owners and breeders Ben and Sally Warren, won the Solana Beach Stakes for statebred fillies and mares on turf at Del Mar last summer. Warrens Candy Girl’s win on Saturday ended a five-race losing streak since the Solana Beach and was her fifth win in 22 starts.

She is expected to run in the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at a mile on turf on May 28. On the same day, Catalina Eddy is set to have his stakes debut in the $150,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-old statebreds at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Owned by Rainmaker Racing, Catalina Eddy has won 2 of 4 starts in a career that began in early February.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.