Forbidden Kingdom holds off Baffert trio in San Vicente Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. – Forbidden Kingdom is learning, month to month, race to race, under the tutelage of trainer Richard Mandella to dole out his terrific early speed, and on Saturday at Santa Anita, he finished off the seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes like a colt who might be ready, after four starts, to finally stretch out.
Forbidden Kingdom ($9.80), the third choice in a field of five, took over soon after the start, flaunted that speed, but kept on motoring through the wire for an emphatic, 2 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2, $200,000 race, leading a trio of Bob Baffert trainees across the wire.
Pinehurst, the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity winner last summer, was second by a neck over stablemate McLaren Vale, who was a neck better than stablemate Doppelganger, the 4-5 favorite. What in Blazes, the race longshot, was well back. The horses finished in numerical order, 1-2-3-4-5.
Forbidden Kingdom set quick splits of 21.86 seconds – that opening quarter with an abbreviated run-up – and 44.49 for the half before passing the eighth pole in 1:09.31 en route to a final time of 1:22.75 on the fast main track. Forbidden Kingdom was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 94.
“He’s as quick as they come,” Mandella said. “He was more professional today. He used to get antsy in the gate, stumble sometimes.”
“We’ll have to reach out and try a little farther,” Mandella said, referencing the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles here March 5 as a possible next start. The San Felipe offers 85 points overall, with 50 to the winner, toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 7. The San Vicente is not part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby point-scoring series.
Forbidden Kingdom, by American Pharoah out of the Five Star Day mare Just Louise, has displayed keen speed all along, both morning and afternoon. He won his debut Aug. 21 at Del Mar going 5 1/2 furlongs, then was third at Santa Anita in the five-furlong Speakeasy Stakes, on turf, when Mandella elected to keep him sprinting rather than stretch out in the Grade 1 American Pharoah.
After that turf experiment, Forbidden Kingdom finished second to Messier at Del Mar in the Grade 3 Bob Hope going seven furlongs. But he tore up a front hoof – commonly known as “grabbing a quarter” – in that race, which is why he didn’t run again for more than two months, until Saturday.
“He tore a piece of his foot off, then got a quarter crack,” Mandella said. “We fixed it up.”
Juan Hernandez rode Forbidden Kingdom, as he has for all his races.
Forbidden Kingdom was purchased as a yearling for $300,000 by Spendthrift Farm and My Racehorse. He was originally with Baffert, but was moved to Mandella, months before he ever ran, after last year’s Kentucky Derby.