Santa Anita: Kristo fresh for Sham Stakes
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ARCADIA, Calif. – It took three starts, but Kristo finally showed what all the hype was about when scoring a romping win against maidens going two turns during the fall meeting here at Santa Anita. It was the third straight race in which he was sent off at 3-5, and it followed a pair of runner-up finishes in sprints against maidens, one at Del Mar and one here.
Off that victory, two days before the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Kristo seemingly was a strong contender for last month’s CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park. But trainer John Sadler was reluctant to run Kristo on a synthetic surface – even one that closely mirrors dirt – preferring to await a return to dirt, and, hence, Santa Anita.
So, after a layoff of more than two months, Kristo will return to the races Saturday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds. Kristo showed his preference for this surface with a six-furlong workout in 1:12.80 on Sunday.
“It went well,” said Sadler, who trains Kristo for Kosta Hronis. “He’ll go in the Sham, lined up against assorted Bafferts.”
Rafael Bejarano, who has been aboard Kristo in all three of his races, is back aboard for the Sham.
The Sham, at one mile, offers 10 points to the winner under the system now used by Churchill Downs to determine eligibility to the May 3 Kentucky Derby should the field for that race exceed the maximum of 20 runners.
The Sham field was not expected to be large. Bob Baffert said Midnight Hawk, an impressive debut winner at Hollywood Park, was certain for the race, with Mike Smith riding. Baffert also was considering running Roundupthelute and perhaps Indianapolis, though Roundupthelute seemed the more likely of those two early in the week.
Baffert does hold a strong hand with 3-year-olds, but both Jerry Hollendorfer – the trainer of Shared Belief and Tamarando – and Sadler have deep benches, too. Sadler, in addition to Kristo, has Candy Boy – the CashCall Futurity runner-up behind Shared Belief, who is expected to have a rematch with Shared Belief in the Grade 2, $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 8 – as well as Kobe’s Back, who will shorten up to seven furlongs in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Vicente on Feb. 16 following a rough trip in the CashCall Futurity.