Vittorio catches some stiff competition in allowance

ARCADIA, Calif. – On his way up the class ladder, Vittorio hits an unlikely snag Friday at Santa Anita, where the improving 4-year-old runs smack into a pair of graded stakes-winning comebackers surprisingly eligible to the second allowance condition.

Spielberg and Classier enter the mile dirt race as the most accomplished horses in the field, although the race is designed mostly as a prep.

“They’re going to need it,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “At least we’ll get a race into them and see where we stand.”

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Spielberg, winner of the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in 2020, returns from a nine-month layoff. Classier, winner of the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby in 2021, returns from a four-month layoff following a recent throat procedure to alleviate a breathing issue.

As for Vittorio, he enters in peak form for trainer Simon Callaghan and owner Kaleem Shah. Purchased for $750,000 as a 2-year-old, Vittorio had his career interrupted but is finally gaining traction. After winning a maiden race second out at age 2, he was off for more than a year due to bone-bruising and a shoulder issue. No surgery was required, just patience.

“We had to give him the time off he needed,” Shah said. “Now he’s a healthy horse and hopefully he continues to go forward.”

Following a fourth-place sprint comeback, Vittorio stretched to one mile Dec. 4 at Los Alamitos and won an entry-level allowance by a neck. The horse he beat, Margot’s Boy, is expected to be a contender Saturday in the $200,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic.

Mike Smith rides 2-for-4 Vittorio, a pace-presser whose 87 Beyer Speed Figure is the field’s highest last-out figure. While another forward move is expected from Vittorio, Shah recognizes that Baffert-trained Spielberg and Classier will be formidable despite their layoffs.

“Bob is always tough to run against,” Shah said. “They always seem to re-break at the quarter pole.”

Baffert said Spielberg “is doing well, he’s really filled out” since last March, when an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby knocked him from Kentucky Derby consideration. Flavien Prat rides Spielberg, 2 for 9 and multiple graded stakes-placed.

Even if the Friday allowance is only a starting point, Baffert comebackers are rarely short on fitness. Notwithstanding layoffs, Spielberg and Classier both figure.

Classier, 2 for 4, will race for the first time since August, when he finished fifth in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar.

“We did a minor throat surgery on him,” Baffert said. “He’s a good work horse, he’s got his speed.”

Classier also has jockey John Velazquez; he and Baffert have teamed this winter to go 9 for 13.

The six-runner allowance field includes graded-placed Dark Vader and Wicked Trick, and outsider Surfing Star.

Dark Vader, age 7, is entered for the optional $80,000 claim tag in his first start since finishing last in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic in August 2020 at Del Mar. He was gelded soon after. Dark Vader has won 3 of 14, all for trainer Peter Eurton, including the second-level allowance level at which he runs Friday. His mid-90s Beyer Figures top the field.