Easy Shot facing big names in San Felipe

ARCADIA, Calif. – Easy Shot’s status for the 2019 Triple Crown scene will be determined in a top-class running of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.

The $500,000 San Felipe at 1 1/16 miles is expected to be led by Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, and Improbable, who won the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in December in his last start.

Monday, Game Winner worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, while Improbable went the same distance in 59.60 seconds.

The San Felipe will be by far the toughest race of Easy Shot’s career.

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Easy Shot was third in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on a sealed and sloppy track on Feb. 2. There is a strong possibility for a fast track on Saturday, and trainer Keith Desormeaux is hopeful such conditions will help Easy Shot.

“We’re giving him a chance to prove himself against the highest level,” he said on Sunday. “Each race has been better. I’ll give him another chance.”

Owned by Calumet Farm, Easy Shot won an $80,000 claimer for maidens at 6 1/2 furlongs in his fourth start on Nov. 30 at Del Mar. In his first start this year, and his stakes debut, Easy Shot raced in traffic in the final furlong and finished fifth in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at a mile on Jan. 5.

“He’s been running respectable races,” Desormeaux said.

Other candidates for the San Felipe are Gunmetal Gray, who won the Sham and was second in the Lewis, and Extra Hope, who was third in the Los Alamitos Futurity and won an optional claimer at a mile on Jan. 31.

The San Felipe Stakes is expected to yield a few runners for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.