Game Winner drills for San Felipe during busy morning training session
ARCADIA, Calif. – Pick a graded stakes at Santa Anita in the next few months, and chances are a leading contender for that event had a workout on Sunday.
On Sunday, there were 312 recorded workouts – 260 on the main track, 51 on the training track, and one on turf. At times, particularly immediately after the track was renovated, it was difficult to keep up with all the action.
The most prominent runner was Game Winner, the undefeated 3-year-old who is expected to be named champion 2-year-old male of 2018 at Thursday’s Eclipse Awards in Florida.
The winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs in November, Game Winner worked alone and went a half-mile in 48.60 seconds. The Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 9 is likely to be the colt’s first start this year. Trainer Bob Baffert timed Game Winner in 49 seconds.
“He’ll get ready pretty quick,” Baffert said.
Among other 3-year-olds, Baffert worked Coliseum five furlongs from the gate in 1:00.80. Coliseum was sixth after a poor start in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at a mile on Jan. 5 in his stakes debut. Coliseum was the 3-5 favorite in the Sham.
On Sunday, Much Better, third in the Sham, worked five furlongs in 1:00.
Improbable, the undefeated winner of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 9, worked a half-mile in 48 seconds, his third workout of the year.
Roadster, another of Baffert’s promising prospects, is on hold while the trainer deals with quarter cracks that Roadster has developed in multiple hooves. Roadster, a winner of one of two starts, has not raced since finishing third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 3. Roadster last worked on Dec. 19, going five furlongs at Santa Anita in 1:02.80.
On Sunday, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer had three notable workouts by 3-year-olds – Brill, Instagrand, and Gunmetal Gray. Brill, unraced since a third in the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies in September, worked three furlongs in 37.80 seconds in her first workout of the year.
Instagrand, unbeaten in two starts but unraced since winning the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes by 10 1/4 lengths at Del Mar in August, worked a half-mile in 47.60. Hollendorfer said the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 10 is “doubtful’ for Instagrand’s 3-year-old debut.
Gunmetal Gray, the winner of the Sham Stakes, worked five furlongs in 1:02.80 for a possible start in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 2, Hollendorfer said.
Among the fillies, Bellafina, winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs by 8 1/2 lengths on Jan. 6, worked a half-mile in 49.20 seconds. She will start in the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile on Feb. 9, trainer Simon Callaghan said.
The same race is likely to draw the Hollendorfer-trained Calf Moon Bay, who worked a half-mile in 50.60. She has yet to start in a stakes but has won consecutive races, against maidens and in an allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option, in her last two starts.
Two older horses, both recent stakes winners, worked in advance of expected appearances in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 2. Gift Box, who won the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26, went five furlongs in 1:00.60. Battle of Midway, who won the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar in November and was second in the San Antonio, worked five furlongs in 1:00.
Paradise Woods, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2017, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 for her scheduled 2019 debut in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs on Feb. 16. She was recently transferred from trainer Richard Mandella to John Shirreffs.
Next Shares, who won the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland in October and the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes here on Jan. 1, worked a half-mile on turf in 49.20 for Saturday’s $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park.
The speedy mare Fahan Mura worked five furlongs on the infield training track in 1:02.60 for the same race.
– additional reporting by Jay Privman
