Freshened Ransom the Moon ready for Triple Bend Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ransom the Moon was a tired horse when he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in October and fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar.

The fatigue was cured by a wintertime break, trainer Phil D’Amato said. Ransom the Moon’s 2018 season starts in Saturday’s Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

“He tailed off a little bit last year,” D’Amato said last weekend. “He’s come back as good as ever.”

Owned by Agave Racing Stable and Jeffry Wilke, Ransom the Moon won half of his six starts in 2017, highlighted by an incident-filled win in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 29. Ransom the Moon finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of Roy H, who was carried wide by a loose horse on the turn.

Roy H later won the Santa Anita Sprint and BC Sprint to clinch the Eclipse Award as the 2017 champion sprinter.

Roy H will be favored in the $400,000 Triple Bend, one of three Grade 1 races on Saturday’s card, which includes the $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles and the $400,000 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf. The day’s leading race for 3-year-olds is the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, a $400,000 race at 1 1/16 miles that is a prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

The Triple Bend has three Grade 1 winners among its probable starters, including City of Light, unraced since a win in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs on Dec. 26. Edwards Going Left, second in the Malibu and the winner of the California Cup Sprint on Jan. 27, is another probable runner.

The Kilroe Mile field is expected to be led by World Approval, the winner of the 2017 BC Mile at Del Mar and the champion turf male last year. He is expected to face Bowies Hero, Channel Maker, Next Shares, Om, and Thundering Sky. Om won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 10.

The Big Cap, the track’s leading race for older horses, lacks a standout. Accelerate, who won the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Feb. 3, will be favored against seven other probable rivals: Curlin Road, Fear the Cowboy, Giant Expectations, Hoppertunity, Mubtaahij, Prime Attraction, and Top of the Game.

West Coast, the champion 3-year-old male of 2017, was nominated, but is scheduled to start in the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31. West Coast worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds on Monday.

The San Felipe field is led by Bolt d’Oro, the winner of two Grade 1 races last year, and McKinzie, who won the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in his 3-year-old debut in January.

Bolt d’Oro worked a half-mile in 46.40 seconds on Monday, and cooled out in “fantastic” condition, according to owner and trainer Mick Ruis. Bolt d’Oro has not raced since finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar in November.