Microrithms continues comeback with speed display

CYPRESS, Calif. – The promising sprinter Microrithms is not the most durable runner in trainer Bob Baffert’s stable, but he showed his brilliant speed at Los Alamitos on Thursday.

Microrithms won an allowance race with a $40,000 claiming option at six furlongs in 1:07.82 on a sloppy track, just missing the 2016 track record of 1:07.79 set by Toews On Ice.

The optional claimer was the second win in four starts for Microrithms, who races for David Israel, Michael and Nadia Sigband, and David Shaw.

The race on Thursday was the second start after a layoff of nearly 16 months for Microrithms. Ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, Microrithms ($3.20) disputed the pace throughout and won by a half-length over 15-1 I Am the Danger.

Microrithms earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92, comparable to the 94 recorded when he finished second in an optional claimer at Santa Anita in his comeback on Nov. 3.

“Hopefully, the little issues are behind him and we’ll have fun with him,” Baffert said.

Microrithms, a 4-year-old by Algorithms, is eligible for a second-condition allowance race. If Baffert takes a more aggressive approach, the next graded stakes for older sprinters in Southern California is the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 19, a $200,000 race at six furlongs that may attract Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Roy H.