For Forbidden Kingdom, the Santa Anita Sprint is just one more obstacle to clear

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 3-year-old speedster Forbidden Kingdom starts over Saturday at Santa Anita, returning from an extended layoff as the likely favorite in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

It’s not an easy spot, which is fitting. Since his most recent start, in April, nothing has come easy for Forbidden Kingdom. When he runs Saturday in the $200,000 sprint, race 6, Forbidden Kingdom faces a challenging pace scenario and older stakes winners C Z Rocket, None Above the Law, Super Ocho, and Todo Fino.

There is no secret strategy regarding Forbidden Kingdom.

“He wants to be fast,” trainer Richard Mandella said.

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Considering what he has been through the past six months, a hotly contested pace duel might not be enough to stop him.

After he crushed the Grade 2 San Felipe in March at Santa Anita, Forbidden Kingdom fell victim to one complication after another. A throat ulcer contributed to his last-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby, he was hospitalized with colic in summer, and bruised a foot in a slow, substandard six-furlong workout only two weeks ago.

It’s water under the bridge. Forbidden Kingdom worked a bullet six furlongs Sept. 23, blew out three furlongs Wednesday, and will enter the Santa Anita Sprint Championship without an alibi. And, yes, he is still fast.

“Particularly right now, because he’s fresh,” Mandella said.

The sprint stakes Saturday is his first start since the Santa Anita Derby.

“He’s grown up a little bit more, like you’d expect,” Mandella said. “A little bit bigger, a little stronger.”

Three-year-olds have won the Santa Anita Sprint Championship two of the last three years, including Mandella-trained comebacker Omaha Beach in 2019. The main challenge facing Forbidden Kingdom and jockey Juan Hernandez is pace.

Forbidden Kingdom drew post 2, inside front-runners Todo Fino and Kid Corleone. To win the race, Forbidden Kingdom must put away those pace rivals and hold off the closing rally of C Z Rocket, the oldest and most accomplished horse in the field.

C Z Rocket was only 6 when won the 2020 Santa Anita Sprint, and would be the first as old as 8 to win the stakes. Peter Miller trains C Z Rocket, a 12-for-33 veteran who will rally from behind. He misfired with a bad trip in a Grade 2 sprint at Del Mar last out, but his allowance victory two back puts him the picture. Ramon Vazquez rides C Z Rocket, who has won three graded stakes and more than $1.5 million.

Miller also entered None Above the Law, a multiple stakes winner who has won short and long, on turf, dirt, and synthetic. Joe Bravo rides the 6-for-19 California-bred.

Kid Corleone and Howbeit were supplemented for $4,000 each. Based on speed figures, Kid Corleone is as fast as Forbidden Kingdom. Kid Corleone won a fast entry-level allowance in July at Del Mar, earning a 98 Beyer Speed Figure that matches the highest of Forbidden Kingdom. Doug O’Neill trains 2-for-4 Kid Corleone, whose rider is Edwin Maldonado.

Missing from the Santa Anita Sprint Championship is West Coast sprint leader American Theorem, who won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby in summer at Del Mar and will train into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

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