Count Again can confirm superiority with win in San Gabriel

ARCADIA, Calif. – Count Again did it once. Can he do it again?

Five weeks after an impressive Grade 2 victory in his California debut at Del Mar, Count Again faces familiar rivals in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita. Is he a slam dunk to win the $200,000 grass race? Not quite.

A change in equipment for Anothertwistafate and a rider change for Bowies Hero are reasons they could even the score against Count Again, whose last-to-first win in the Seabiscuit at Del Mar propelled him to the top of the California turf division.

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Four of the seven entered in the 1 1/8-mile San Gabriel exit the 1 1/16-mile Seabiscuit, a race considered too short for Count Again. A Grade 3 winner at 1 1/4 miles at Woodbine, he was making his first start for trainer Phil D’Amato.

“He trained super going into the race,” D’Amato said. “The question was, did he want to go a mile and a sixteenth vs. longer?”

The distance was fine. Count Again blazed a final five-sixteenths in 27.86 and won going away. Perhaps more of the same on Saturday?

“He hasn’t missed a beat, and he bullet-worked again [Dec. 27],” D’Amato said. “A mile and one-eighth should be perfect.”

Count Again has won 4 of 8, and will be ridden again by Juan Hernandez.

The field includes 2019 San Gabriel winner Next Shares, graded winners Multiplier and Cleopatra’s Strike, and potential pacesetter Bob and Jackie. But the main threats to Count Again are two he defeated in the Seabiscuit – fourth-place Anothertwistafate and fifth-place Bowies Hero. Both have reasons to improve.

Anothertwistafate, a Grade 3 winner on dirt, was making his first start on turf and first for trainer Peter Miller in the Seabiscuit. Sired by Scat Daddy and with an eye-catching turf work going in, Anothertwistafate started as the 2.20-1 favorite. His trip was weird.

Under Joel Rosario, he set the pace inside, slowed down, surrendered the lead on the backstretch, tried to re-rally, and missed by 2 1/2 lengths. Anothertwistafate seemed confused.

“He looked a little green,” Miller said. “He was kind of looking around a lot and distracted. Joel suggested putting blinkers on him, so we’re going to try him in blinkers. And he’s probably better with a target in front of him.”

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Anothertwistafate should get a target Saturday. Bob and Jackie, who routinely presses 45-and-change fractions in shorter races, is likely to set the pace. Anothertwistafate could get a great trip positioned second. Miller’s second starter is Multiplier.

D’Amato’s second starter is Bowies Hero, a back-class Grade 1 winner now 7-years-old. Though he finished out of the money in his last four starts, D’Amato hopes for a turnaround with a rider change to Flavien Prat.

“He’s been running solid races against strong competition, but the guy that seems to have the magic touch with him – Flavien – was the one ingredient that was lacking,” D’Amato said. “He knows where to place him and when to move.”

Prat, who has ridden Bowies Hero four times and won Grade 1 and Grade 2 races with him, is back aboard for the first time in more than a year.

“That might be just what he needs to run a winning race,” D’Amato said.

The San Gabriel is race 7 on the Saturday card, and the Grade 3 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds is race 8.