Pee Wee Reese takes them all the way in Joe Hernandez

ARCADIA, Calif. – Pee Wee Reese was always in control of Monday’s $98,375 Joe Hernandez Stakes for turf sprinters on the hillside course at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Joe Talamo, Pee Wee Reese ($7.20) set the pace, led by more than a length when the field crossed over the dirt onto the main turf course and won by 2 3/4 lengths over Next Shares, a 10-1 chance.

“I don’t how much of it was that he’s fast or how much or just that he makes everything look easy,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “The game plan was to go out there and if they wanted to challenge us, let them.”

Either way, it worked. Pee Wee Reese set fractions of 21.96 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.64 for a half-mile. He finished in 1:12.37.

“He always runs his race,” Talamo said. “The six and a half is perfect for him.”

The race had depth. Richard’s Boy, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 4, finished third as the 2-1 favorite, followed by Om, the multiple stakes winner who was second in the BC Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in 2016.

Tribalist, who won the Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar last August, was fifth, followed by Mr. Roary, who won the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes here in September. Cimpl Man was seventh, followed by Krsto Skye, Law Abidin Citizen, and Gold Rush Dancer.

Pee Wee Reese is unbeaten on the hillside, having won an allowance race with an optional claiming condition here last March by 5 3/4 lengths. Owned by breeder Nick Alexander, Pee Wee Reese has won stakes in two of his last three starts.

Pee Wee Reese won the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on turf here last July, but emerged from the race with a minor injury. He was third in his comeback, the Grade 3 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Nov. 26.

D’Amato was critical of the way he prepared Pee Wee Reese saying the 5-year-old was one workout away from being in peak form. The Hernandez Stakes was Pee Wee Reese’s next start.

By Tribal Rule, Pee Wee Reese has won 6 of 11 starts and earned $345,490.