Santa Anita: Procurement flies nine furlongs in La Puente

ARCADIA, Calif. - Procurement ran the best race of his career in Sunday’s $72,260 La Puente Stakes at Santa Anita, zooming through 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:46.33.

“That’s fast,” said trainer Tom Proctor, who watched the race from Kentucky. “He might be a little better than I gave him credit for.”

Ridden by Garrett Gomez, Procurement ($3.60) had an ideal trip, stalking Counting Days and Little Jerry, who disputed the early pace. Procurement was third on the backstretch, circled the leaders on the turn, and won by 3 1/2 lengths.

Little Jerry held second, finishing three-quarters of a length in front of Counting Days, who was followed by Collation and Miceli.

Procurement races for breeder Leonard Lavin’s Glen Hill Farm. A colt by Milwaukee Brew, Procurement has won 3 of 9 starts and $130,298. He was fifth behind Rosengold in the Baffle Stakes on the hillside turf course on March 2 and second to that colt in the Pasadena Stakes over a mile on March 29 in his first two stakes.

Proctor said on Sunday that Procurement will remain in turf stakes in Southern California. The next race for the division is the $70,000 Tsunami Slew Stakes over a mile at Betfair Hollywood Park on June 23, a race that could attract Rosengold.