Six maiden races, some easier than others

ARCADIA, Calif. – Some maiden races are easy for bettors, such as the first race Friday at Santa Anita. Debut runner-up Beyond Brilliant looks formidable in the turf sprint.

Other maiden races are less clear, such as the sixth race Friday. Highly publicized Bezos should improve stretching to a route, but after his odds-on debut debacle, who knows? It’s not like he had an alibi finishing seventh. “He just got tired,” Bob Baffert said.

Bezos faces stablemate Fenway and improving There Goes Harvard in the mile dirt race on a card filled with non-winners. Six of the eight races are for maidens, which continues a trend. While 33 percent of all races this meet have been maiden races, 46 percent of all races run on Fridays have been for maidens.

This week’s maiden medley includes turf, dirt, short and long. Beyond Brilliant runs in the turf opener; Cal-bred fillies and mares sprint on dirt in race 2; older horses including quirky Astronaut run long on turf in race 5; Bezos gets a do-over in the mile race for 3-year-olds that is race 6. The card also includes a pair of maiden-claiming races, 3 and 8.

Race-1 entrant Beyond Brilliant could have won his turf-sprint debut, but he was blocked and had to wait on the turn, finished well, and galloped out with run. It was a super debut considering John Shirreffs trainees typically race into shape rather than fire first out.

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Shirreffs plans to stretch out the son of Twirling Candy, and he considered a mile turf race last weekend before settling on Friday’s 6 1/2-furlong sprint. “It’s always nice for a horse to have a chance to repeat what they’ve done before,” Shirreffs said.

Favorites this winter are 15 for 27 in maiden turf sprints, which bodes well for Beyond Brilliant. His effort Friday would further validate the form of the colt who beat him – stakes-placed Ambivalent is scheduled to run Saturday in the Group 2 UAE Derby in Dubai. Beyond Brilliant’s main rival Friday is First Class Dad, who returns to turf.

Race 2 is a five-runner scramble for Cal-bred maiden fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs. First-time starters Starship Defiant and Miss O’Brien may hold the advantage over second-time starter Fursace and 13-start maiden Elgofranco.

Race-5 favorite Astronaut, runner-up his first local start for Shirreffs, arrived from the East Coast with one second from three starts, and a reputation. “They said he was a little bit of a problem,” Shirreffs acknowledged. “He’s kind of a quirky son of a gun.”

Astronaut dislikes a chain over his nose, and excessive chomping on the bit was cured with a rubber insert. He has tried to strike handlers while being walked. Shirreffs went into his bag of tricks to fit him with a “cavesson,” which is headgear similar to a nose band.

Because of the 4-year-old’s idiosyncrasies, Shirreffs was both hopeful and uncertain when Astronaut returned last month. “I was hoping he’d run well, and he did.”

Astronaut finished second by a length, defeating four of the seven he faces Friday at a mile and one-eighth. Leading rider Flavien Prat, 9 for 20 last week, gains the mount. His rivals include On Easy Street, Warbird, and upset candidate Phantom Dance, who had a tough trip in his local debut.

Race 6 is an opportunity for Bezos to show his sprint debut was an aberration. Favored at 3-5, he pressed the pace, stopped, and lost by more than 15 lengths. “He’s come back and worked well, and I’ve been wanting to stretch him out,” Baffert said.

Bezos removes blinkers and switches riders. Prat rides Bezos, while Mike Smith moves to Fenway. “Fenway’s a quick horse; Mike suits those horses,” Baffert said. The issue for Fenway is distance. He has set the pace and weakened in three starts around two turns.

“I’d prefer seven-eighths,” Baffert said. “I’ll give him one more chance going two turns. He gets tough. He’s got a lot of speed.”

The horse to beat could be There Goes Harvard, who adds blinkers after an improved second start in which he finished third. Michael McCarthy trains There Goes Harvard, whose blinkers-on change would have occurred last time except for miscommunication with the racing office.

“His first race was too bad to be true, and I was looking for any reason to kind of help the horse a little bit,” McCarthy explained. Working in blinkers, McCarthy said, There Goes Harvard “seems more dialed in.”

Other starters include Circumvent, Rookie Year, and Vantage Point.