Santa Anita: Peace and Justice impresses

ARCADIA, Calif. – Peace and Justice won first time out, bolted to the outside in his second start, then ran off to a long lead and faded in his third. Last Sunday, in start No. 4, he was dazzling, running away from a first-level allowance field on turf in a manner that suggested that stakes races are in his future. But can such an inconsistent horse be trusted?

“He’s that good,” John Shirreffs, his trainer, said after the victory. “When he won first time out, wire-to-wire, he didn’t learn much. Second time out, he’s got an outside post after having the inside first time. He knows he’s supposed to head to the rail. He had no horse to cover him, so he went to the rail, just the wrong rail.

“The third time out, he got wound up before the race and took off the first part of the race. He’s always been a horse who, you watch his workouts, you look at your watch and go, ‘Oh my God, he did that!’ ”

Sunday’s race was the first for Peace and Justice on this circuit. As with Blingo, he was part of a group whom Shirreffs campaigned in New York during the summer and fall before returning for the winter to California.

Brice Blanc rode Peace and Justice on Sunday. After the race, Blanc told Shirreffs the colt largely cooperated, but he thought the addition of a neck strap for his next start would provide even more control. This is a headstrong but obviously talented runner.