Santa Anita notes: Owens high on Top Fortitude

ARCADIA, Calif. – Top Fortitude ran like an older horse when he won his 2-year-old debut in a maiden race for sprinters at Hollywood Park in November.

Instead of zooming to the lead, like many first-time winners, Top Fortitude closed from fourth in a field of nine with a wide rally to win by 2 3/4 lengths. The victory has led to a start in Saturday’s $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds over a mile at Santa Anita.

An Arizona-bred by Top Hit, Top Fortitude is trained by Kory Owens and races for his family’s Triple AAA Ranch. For Owens, the Sham Stakes is the ideal second start for Top Fortitude, a chance to try the colt in an important early season stakes for sophomores.

“If you’re going to jump into a race like this, this is the situation you want to be in,” he said. “Most of the horses have only one win.”

Top Fortitude will be ridden by Kayla Stra in the Sham. Stra rode Top Fortitude in the Nov. 16 maiden race. Owens said he was delighted with the way Stra coaxed patience from Top Fortitude in the first half of the race.

“I expected the horse to run a big race,” Owens said. “What I was more impressed with was the way he won. He took some pressure inside, backed off, and circled a few horses. He didn’t just go to the lead and not look back. He was professional.”

Top Fortitude is a brother to Uh Oh Bango, a three-time stakes winner who won 5 of 20 starts and earned $691,512. Uh Oh Bango, who begins a stud career in California this year, was third in the Santa Anita Handicap over 1 1/4 miles in March 2012.

The Sham Stakes drew a field of six, led by maiden race winners Kristo and Midnight Hawk as well as Life Is a Joy, a stakes winner at the Big Fresno Fair last October.

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The distance of the Sham Stakes is not a major issue for Owens. He said he is more concerned with the eight-week break between races.

“It’s a little far in between,” Owens said. “I think it would be more of a problem if I came back too quick. I think it’s better to have had too long of a break than not to have had a break. I think he can win. I don’t think the distance is the problem. It’s whether he’s tight enough. His brother could go a mile and a quarter.”