Santa Anita: Tapizar geared up for San Fernando

ARCADIA, Calif. – It was at Santa Anita one year ago when Tapizar served notice that he was one of the top 3-year-olds in the country with a victory in the Sham Stakes. An untimely injury in the spring put him on the sidelines for the Triple Crown, but after a pair of comeback races in the fall, Tapizar looks primed to be one of the major players among this track’s older horses this meet, beginning Saturday in the Grade 2, $150,000 San Fernando Stakes.

“He’s put in some very good works here, and he’s got a win over the track,” trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Tapizar was injured in the Robert Lewis in February and did not return until October at Belmont Park, when he won a strong optional claimer that included Uptowncharlybrown and Boys At Tosconova. Off that race, he went into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but he faded to finish fifth of nine over a fast, drying-out track he might not have preferred.

“It was a lot to ask under the circumstances we got,” Asmussen said.

The San Fernando, the second leg of the Strub Series, is at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.