Kiss Today Goodbye ($33.60) goes last to first in San Antonio Stakes

Kiss Today Goodbye was best known prior to Saturday for having put a scare into top 3-year-olds Thousand Words and Honor A. P. in the Shared Belief Stakes during the summer at Del Mar, but he served notice Saturday that he’ll be far more than a bit player in coming months.

Kiss Today Goodbye and Idol, the only 3-year-olds in the field, finished one-two at Santa Anita in the Grade 2, $200,500 San Antonio Stakes, whose result further underscored that a significant changing of the guard is ongoing in the older-horse division in Southern California.

Authentic, Higher Power, Maximum Security, and McKinzie are among the Grade 1-winning horses who were retired in recent months to begin stud duty next year, opening the door for newcomers to smash through. Kiss Today Goodbye showed he’s a candidate to do so, rallying from last under Mike Smith to get up by a half-length and score a 15-1 surprise while earning his first stakes win.

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Idol, making his stakes debut in only his fourth start, went down in a valiant effort. He finished three-quarters of a length in front of pacesetting Take the One O One, then galloped out better than anyone.

Mucho Gusto, winner of the Pegasus World Cup earlier this year, was fourth while making his first start since the Saudi Cup in February. He stalked the pace of Take the One O One and was on even terms a quarter-mile out, but could not sustain his bid through the lane. Midcourt was fifth, and Extra Hope trailed.

Kiss Today Goodbye ($33.60) was a high price because he’d yet to win a graded stakes, and because bettors sent it in on the comebacking Mucho Gusto, who went off at 1-2, his price depressed by the significant scratch of Sharp Samurai in the morning. Combatant also was withdrawn, leaving six runners.

Take the One O One and Mucho Gusto broke best, with Take the One O One carving out fractions of 23.83 seconds for the opening quarter and 47.81 for the half, with Mucho Gusto just behind and to his outside. Idol, saving ground behind Take the One O One early, moved aggressively between Take the One O One and Mucho Gusto on the far turn to challenge, and as the field came into the lane those three were abreast.

But behind them, Kiss Today Goodbye was unwinding with his run. He saved every inch of ground on the far turn, was taken to the middle of the track for the stretch run, and rolled past the three leaders in the final furlong. He completed 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:43.37.

Kiss Today Goodbye, a colt by Cairo Prince, is owned by John Sondereker, who trainer Eric Kruljac said was instrumental in Kiss Today Goodbye going in the San Antonio as opposed to an upcoming allowance race.

This was the third win in 11 starts for Kiss Today Goodbye. He was coming off a win in a first-level allowance Nov. 14 at Del Mar, the site of his terrific third-place finish in the Shared Belief on Aug. 1. In between those two starts, he twice competed in turf stakes, finishing fifth in the Del Mar Derby and fourth in the Twilight Derby, both Grade 2 races.

“He was always very immature early on. It just took him longer to get where he is. I think he is really just beginning to mature,” Kruljac said in an interview broadcast on Santa Anita’s simulcast site.