Runbrorun looks ready to graduate in second start
ARCADIA, Calif. – Experience, or what counts for it with the benefit of one start, might be the difference Runbrorun needs to win Friday’s first race for 2-year-old maidens at Santa Anita.
Runbrorun was second in a maiden race for California-bred maidens at 4 1/2 furlongs on May 1 and starts in a similar race Friday. There are two maiden races for California-bred 2-year-olds on Friday, the highlights of what might be a wet eight-race program. Rain is forecast in Southern California late Thursday and into Friday.
Race 1
Runbrorun broke sharply and led by 1 1/2 lengths at the eighth pole of the May 1 race before finishing second by a half-length to Swiss Minister. Runbrorun, owned by Dickman Legacy Ranch of Utah and trained by John Brocklebank, raced with blinkers in that race but will not be fitted with the equipment Friday.
Brocklebank said jockey Alonso Quinonez suggested taking the blinkers off.
Runbrorun will break from the rail in a field of seven.
“I don’t think the 1 hole will bother him,” Brocklebank said. “He has plenty of early lick.”
The competition includes Nusret, a first-time starter trained by Jeff Bonde who drew the outside and will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano. Nusret has shown sharp workouts at Pleasanton and Santa Anita in recent weeks.
“We’re very optimistic,” Bonde said. “He’s an attractive horse and has a good mind, the things that you look for.”
Nusret is one of four first-time starters in the field along with True Brilliance, a gelding by Unusual Heat who has shown speed in workouts, trainer Robertino Diodoro said.
Race 3
Diodoro has two juveniles in each maiden race and has high expectations for Family Code, a Desert Code gelding purchased for $32,000 at the 2014 Barretts October yearling sale who starts in the third race.
All of Diodoro’s 2-year-olds had early training at Turf Paradise in Phoenix this year. Family Code has been working at Santa Anita on a regular basis since late March.
“He’s a big, good-looking horse,” Diodoro said. “Before he came into the racetrack, the guys at the farm said he’s a runner.”
The third race has eight starters, including the fillies Jackeeattackee, who was fifth in a maiden race for California-bred fillies on April 30, and the first-time starter Run Like the Boss. Trained by Peter Miller, Run Like the Boss was purchased for $67,000 at the Barretts select sale of 2-year-olds in training in February.