Pricey purchase Decisive Win set to make debut

On Saturday at Santa Anita, the well-regarded first-time starter Decisive Win starts for trainer Doug O’Neill in a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Purchased for $600,000 at the Fasig-Tipton mid-Atlantic sale of 2-year-olds in-training in Maryland last May, Decisive Win is part of a field of 10 in the day’s sixth race.

Decisive Win has displayed a series of quick recent workouts, including five furlongs in 58 seconds on Feb. 11, and the same distance from the gate in 58.60 last Sunday.

“He can really run,” O’Neill said. “He doesn’t act like a sprinter. He worked 58 like most work in 1:01. We’ll see how many gears he’s got.”

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Decisive Win, owned by Mark Davis and Great Friends Stable, is by Nyquist, and is part of a promising field.

For the same ownership group, O’Neill starts Civil Liberty, who was winless in three starts last year, finishing third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last September and fourth in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles last October in his most recent appearance.

Captain Shreve, trained by George Papaprodromou, has finished second in two high-profile maiden races for sprinters since late December. Papaprodromou’s stable has been in excellent form of late, winning with four of its last 10 runners from Feb. 21 through last Sunday.

Bob Baffert has two first-time starters in the field in Crude Velocity and Memory. Of the two, Memory has had quicker works, including a half-mile in 47.40 seconds last Sunday.

Memory, by Uncle Mo, is a half-brother to First World War, a two-time stakes winner on turf in 2024.

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