Matt At Five running it back after maiden win in turf sprint

Two weeks after he cruised to an easy win in a maiden race for California-breds on turf, Matt At Five has a similar assignment in a six-furlong allowance race for statebreds on grass at Santa Anita on Sunday.

On May 10, Matt At Five won his first start on turf at 3-5, stalking the early pace before pulling clear by 3 1/4 lengths. Trainer Peter Miller envisions Matt At Five having a comparable journey against five rivals on Sunday.

“I think he enjoyed tracking the other day,” Miller said.

Miller trains Matt At Five for Gary Barber and BAG Racing Stable. They acquired the gelding privately earlier this spring after Matt At Five finished second in a maiden race on dirt for Harris Farms and trainer Carla Gaines.

The recent win was Matt At Five’s third start.

“It was better than I expected,” Miller said. “He came to me in great shape.

“You never know with the surface. It was the main question.”

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Matt At Five is expected to stalk Tommy Norris, a two-time winner who starts from the inside post.

Trained by Librado Barocio, Tommy Norris will start on turf for the first time Sunday. The colt finished fourth in the Echo Eddie Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on April 4 after setting the early pace.

Earlier on Sunday’s nine-race program, there are two maiden races for California-bred 2-year-olds at 4 1/2 furlongs on dirt.

The first division, the day’s fourth race, drew a field of eight consisting of six first-time starters, including Early Encore, a colt by the promising first-year stallion Early Voting.

Early Encore, trained by John Sadler, has worked quickly for his debut. Last Monday, Early Encore worked a half-mile from the gate in 47.80 seconds.

Sadler said Early Encore has progressed rapidly through the spring.

“He’s trained well for his first race,” Sadler said. “The horse has taken us there.”

Joel Rosario rides Early Encore, who starts from post 4. Trainer Steve Knapp, who has won two maiden races with 2-year-olds this spring at Santa Anita, starts King Kameha, who was second by nine lengths to stablemate Saluto in a maiden race on May 1.

In the sixth race, for 2-year-old maidens, Rosario rides the filly Lease Instead, who drew the inside post in a field of eight.

Lease Instead, trained by Doug O’Neill, is the only filly in the field. Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Lease Instead is by Pavel out of Don’t Sell, the winner of the Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Santa Anita in 2019.

Pavel has won with a sharp 17 percent of his 2-year-old first-time starters through Thursday.

Lease Instead is part of a field consisting entirely of first-time starters.

Trainer Jorge Periban, who has won with first-time starters in each of the last three years, runs Stanford Warrior, a colt who has had three half-mile workouts from the gate this month.

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