Hot pace in Katella should benefit Spirit Rules
CYPRESS, Calif. – The key starters in the $75,000 Katella Stakes on Saturday at Los Alamitos are back doing what they do best.
Seeking the Sherif returns to dirt, Spirit Rules is back in a sprint, and Distinctiv Passion is back racing, finally. It is his first start in nine months.
Six older horses entered the Katella, which replaces the annual Governor’s Cup at the Los Angeles County Fair. When fall dates transferred to Los Alamitos, the September sprint stakes was renamed the Katella, the street on which Los Alamitos is located.
Three of the six starters in the Katella are speed horses –Seeking the Sherif, Distinctiv Passion, and Heir of Storm. Three others come from behind – Spirit Rules, Drill, and Regally Soul.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Drill. Trainer Bob Baffert is 7 for 17 (and 82 percent in the money) with a $4.63 ROI over the past five years when shortening from routes to sprints in the second start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Favoritism is expected to fall on either Seeking the Sherif, third in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, or Spirit Rules, a stakes-placed gelding shortening in distance in an up-tempo race that suits his closing style.
Katella nominations included Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Secret Circle and Ambitious Brew. Neither will run. Secret Circle could prep Oct. 4 in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship; Ambitious Brew will run Sept. 26 in the Grade 3 Eddie D. Stakes, a turf sprint on opening day of the Santa Anita fall meet.
Katella Stakes, race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Seeking the Sherif (Last 3 Beyers: 89-96-97)
◗ A $12,500 claim by trainer Ron Ellis in December, Seeking the Sherif since has won four races and $177,700. He finished third by two lengths in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 27 at Del Mar, followed by a third-place finish at odds-on in a restricted stakes.
“I don’t think he really loved the synthetic,” Ellis said. “He handled it fine in the morning, but it gets mushy [in the afternoon].” Ellis expects Seeking the Sherif to return to top form with a return to dirt.
“I think he’s glad to be back [training] at Santa Anita,” Ellis said.
Regular rider Edwin Maldonado will be aboard Seeking the Sherif, who starts from the outside post, 6.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Seeking the Sherif. Trainer Ron Ellis is 3 for 15 with a $3.36 ROI over the past five years going from synthetic to dirt in stakes races. – Mike Hogan
Spirit Rules (Last 3 Beyers: 52-87-93)
◗ A one-turn specialist most of his 4-of-13 career, Spirit Rules stretched to a mile for the Bertrando Stakes in July at Los Alamitos, and finished second behind subsequent Los Alamitos Mile winner Soi Phet.
In his most recent start July 27, Spirit Rules finished last in a restricted route stakes at Del Mar. Since then, he posted a series of sharp workouts for trainer Paul Aguirre at Los Alamitos.
◗ Iggy Puglisi rides Spirit Rules, whose off-the-pace style in a sprint likely to unfold at a swift pace makes him the most probable winner.
Distinctiv Passion (Last 3 Beyers: 84-102-95)
◗ A front-running stakes winner, Distinctiv Passion will race for the first time since finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. Distinctiv Passion has won 4 of 10 for trainer Jeff Bonde.
◗ With his regular rider Maldonado on Seeking the Sherif, Distinctive Passion will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Distinctiv Passion. Trainer Jeff Bonde is winless in 14 starts over the past five years in stakes races following a layoff of at least 180 days. – Mike Hogan