Fashionably Fast may have earned himself a graded stakes try

ARCADIA, Calif. – The winning streak has reached five races, and the admiration is at an all-time high.

Fashionably Fast was the determined winner of the $150,000 California Cup Sprint for statebreds at Santa Anita on Saturday, a win that left trainer Dean Pederson impressed as well as hopeful the 5-year-old gelding can show more ability later this year in longer races and maybe a graded stakes.

Fashionably Fast, ridden by Tiago Pereira, disputed the pace throughout the California Cup Sprint, much to the delight of owners John Harris, Per Antonsen, and John Nicoletti.

“I’m proud of the horse and happy for the owners,” Pederson said at his barn on Sunday morning. “Good for Tiago, and I guess we can take some credit along the way.”

Pederson was underselling his role in the success.

Last summer, Pederson and Pereira decided Fashionably Fast would be better racing without blinkers. Fashionably Fast has not lost since, winning two allowance races with claiming options at Del Mar, the Harris Farms Stakes at the Big Fresno Fair in October and the Cary Grant Stakes at Del Mar in November.

In the California Cup Sprint, Fashionably Fast ($6.20) dueled with 8-5 favorite Baja Sur before that rival faded in early stretch. Fashionably Fast held off a rally from Lieutenant Dan to win by a neck.

The style of the win was a change from Fashionably Fast’s two previous stakes wins when he stalked the pace. Pederson told Pereira to keep a close eye on Baja Sur, who was expected to lead from the inside.

“In all honesty, I don’t think that’s the way he wants to run,” Pederson said. “I told Tiago, ‘Don’t concede anything. Respect him, but let him know you’re there.’”

Harris, 76, operates Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., one of the state’s leading Thoroughbred farms for decades. A former chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, Harris does not attend racing as frequently as he did in the past, but was at Santa Anita on Saturday.

“It was a fun race to win,” he said, while leaving the winner’s circle. “He’s a game horse. You always worry if something gets in front whether you can come back or not.”

Last July, the same day Fashionably Fast won the first race of his current winning streak, the Harris-owned Desert Law finished second in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar. Desert Law, trained by Carla Gaines, has not raced since, while Fashionably Fast is in peak form.

“He was a horse we always liked,” Harris said. “He was kind of the understudy to the horse that Carla’s got, Desert Law, but now I don’t know.”

Pederson said Fashionably Fast will be considered for the $100,000 Tiznow Stakes for statebreds at a mile on March 1, which would be the 5-year-old’s first start at the distance since a fifth-place finish in an allowance race on turf in December 2018.

A start in a graded stakes could happen this spring.

“At some point, we’ll have to step out of the division,” Pederson said.

After the race, the owners, their friends and Pederson had a celebratory toast on a patio overlooking the winner’s circle. For Pederson, 57, the party did not last too long.

“We had a good time,” he said. “Twenty minutes after the race, I said, ‘I’ve got to go back to the barn. It’s feeding time.’”