Play Chicken surprises with King Glorious triumph

CYPRESS, Calif. - Play Chicken won his debut at Santa Anita in a one-mile maiden special weight race on turf on Oct. 17, but could finish only fifth of nine in his stakes debut in the Golden State Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 7.

Play Chicken benefited from that experience, according to jockey Mario Gutierrez, who rode the colt to an upset win in Sunday’s $100,000 King Glorious Stakes for 2-year-old statebreds at Los Alamitos.

It turns out Gutierrez learned about the colt’s tendencies from those first two starts as well.

“Sometimes, it takes a couple of races for them to figure it out, and a couple of races for us to figure them out,” Gutierrez said.

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Play Chicken ($29) closed from fourth in a field of 10 to win Sunday’s race by a hard-fought neck over 16-1 Moving Fast. Play Chicken ran a mile in 1:38.10 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 65.

Moving Fast finished a half-length in front of 15-1 Club Cal.

Mister Bold, the 9-5 favorite, set the pace and held on to finish fourth, followed by Good With People, Tacoflavoredkisses, From the Get Go, Ascot Storm, Wedding Groom, and Govenor’s Party.

Moving Fast drew into the field from the also-eligible list after Positivity finished last of six in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday.

Good With People, Positivity, and Ascot Storm were the first three finishers in the Golden State Juvenile.

In the King Glorious, Gutierrez had Play Chicken two or three lengths behind Mister Bold, who set early fractions of 23.01 for the opening quarter-mile and 47.05 for a half-mile.

“The key was to hold him,” Gutierrez said. “He was eager to chase them early.

“I didn’t want to fight him too much. There was a good gap between the leaders and him. When I asked him, he dug in.”

Play Chicken, by Square Eddie, races for owners and breeders Paul and Zillah Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill. The colt, and many of his rivals from Sunday’s race, may return for the $200,000 California Cup Derby for statebred 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Jan. 16.