Story to Tell opens new chapter in Santa Anita Juvenile

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 2-year-old colt Story to Tell is emblematic of most runners in Sunday’s $125,000 Santa Anita Juvenile over 5 1/2 furlongs.

Story to Tell won his debut by 1 1/4 lengths on May 23, giving owner Cecil Peacock and trainer Dan Hendricks reason to be optimistic about the colt’s future.

They are not the only ones with a promising 2-year-old in the race. Global Magician, Henry’s Holiday, Holiday Camp, Kristi’s Copilot, and Wake Up Nick each won his first start, leaving their owners and trainers eager to learn more about their ability.

Those six runners and the first-time starter Homer Matt meet for the first time in the Santa Anita Juvenile, Sunday’s seventh race. The following race is the $125,000 Landaluce Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs for 2-year-old fillies, which is led by maiden winner Seduire.

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Story to Tell was purchased for $200,000 at the Barretts March sale of select 2-year-olds in training. By comparison, Holiday Camp cost $700,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. sale in March, and Homer Matt cost $525,000 at the same sale.

Story to Tell was favored in his maiden win under Joe Talamo, who has the mount Sunday. Story to Tell disputed the lead in the 4 1/2-furlong race, but Hendricks said the horse can come from off the pace if he gets outrun early.

“Any of the 2-year-olds that break their maidens do it with speed,” he said. “Now they’re going into a race where all of them have speed. It’s a whole new scenario.”

Story to Tell worked five furlongs in 59 seconds on June 12, the fastest of 28 works at the distance. The work left Hendricks confident in Story to Tell’s chances in the Santa Anita Juvenile.

“He’s been super, and he’s had a strong five-eighths last week,” Hendricks said. “It was like the work before the maiden race. We’re still optimistic that he can go on.”

Wake Up Nick won his debut May 1 by 9 1/4 lengths in track-record time of 51.22 seconds for 4 1/2 furlongs. Holiday Camp won a five-furlong maiden race by 2 1/2 lengths over five furlongs on June 7 for trainer Bob Baffert.

Kristi’s Copilot won a maiden race for California-breds by two lengths May 16. He is by Lucky Pulpit and trained by Art Sherman, the same sire and trainer as California Chrome.

“I think we’ll go farther,” Sherman said Friday. “It looks like there are a lot of speedballs in there. I’ve seen them collapse when they are pressed. To have another little Chrome would be nice.”

While the Santa Anita Juvenile looks like a competitive race, Seduire appears to be a standout against eight rivals in the Landaluce.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for Regis Racing, Seduire drew the rail. She will be ridden by Corey Nakatani, who rode her to a win by 1 1/2 lengths in a race over 4 1/2 furlongs on May 22. Seduire led throughout, beating the heavily favored Enchanting Lady, who is back in Sunday’s race.

Trained by Baffert, Enchanting Lady broke slowly in the maiden race and had a wide trip. Enchanting Lady is one of five maidens in the Landaluce. Aside from Seduire, the maiden race winners in the field are My Fiona, Robo Girl, and Sea Mona.

Two maidens – Abets Abet and Saturday Yodeler – have started twice, while Lanie Britt and Morning Coffee each start for the first time in the Landaluce.