Thunder Road Stakes a snug fit for Majestic Eagle

ARCADIA, Calif. – The last time Majestic Eagle ran in a one-mile turf race at Santa Anita, he rallied from fifth in the final furlong to record his first stakes win in the Grade 3 American Stakes last June.

Majestic Eagle lost his next four starts, all in stakes in California and Kentucky, including a third in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf here Jan. 4.

Majestic Eagle will return to racing at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in Saturday’s Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes. Conditions could play in favor of the 5-year-old Majestic Eagle.

“I consider him a miler,” trainer Neil Drysdale said Thursday morning. “I feel better about this distance.”

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Majestic Eagle, who races for John Lindley and Ray Morton, was beaten 1 3/4 lengths in the San Gabriel Stakes. Majestic Eagle held a narrow lead with a furlong remaining before fading in the final sixteenth.

“He was up very close as there wasn’t much pace,” Drysdale said.

The $100,000 Thunder Road Stakes drew a solid field of 10 and should have an honest pace. Kingly, who won the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar last August, and Take the One O One, a two-time stakes winner unraced in 18 months, are capable of setting the pace.

Majestic Eagle, who will be ridden for the first time by Umberto Rispoli, figures to race as a stalker and will have ample company in that position.

The stakes winners Mugaritz, River Boyne, Ronald R, The Hunted, and True Valour, and the stakes-placed runners Camino Del Paraiso and Frontier Market have performed at their best when stalking the pace.

Frontier Market will have his California debut in the Thunder Road. A 7-year-old gelding who was third in the Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct in November, Frontier Market was purchased for $170,000 at the Keeneland November sale by Pete and Kosta Hronis and is now trained by John Sadler.

True Valour won the 2019 Thunder Road Stakes. A 6-year-old trained by Simon Callaghan, True Valour was eighth in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf here Jan. 1 after a poor start and a troubled trip.

Callaghan said earlier this week that True Valour is best when racing behind rivals in the first half of a race.

“The horse needs cover,” Callaghan said. “He needs to be taken back.”

The Thunder Road distance should suit The Hunted, the stylish winner of an optional claimer at a mile on turf at Del Mar in November, then fifth in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic against California-breds at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Jan. 18.

“I thought the pace was too slow for him,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “It was a subpar race for him. He’s better going a mile.”