Wizard of Westwood leads all the way in Cinema Stakes
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ARCADIA, Calif. – The front-runner Wizard of Westwood figured to lead the Cinema Stakes field the first time they crossed the wire Sunday at Santa Anita.
Question was, where would the front-runner be positioned when he crossed the finish wire the second time in the 1 1/4-mile turf race for 3-year-olds?
Answer: same place.
Wizard of Westwood ($9) led gate to wire in the $101,000 Cinema under jockey Abel Cedillo, coasting to a 1 1/2- length score over late-running maiden Maltese Falcon. He finished three-quarters of a length in front of third-place finisher Mi Hermano Ramon, the 6-5 favorite.
Michael McCarthy trains Wizard of Westwood for owners Andrew Warren or Rania Warren; the 1 1/4-mile Cinema was the longest distance of his five-start career and ideal for the front-running colt.
“He looked like he was always doing it comfortably,” McCarthy said. “He was able to get himself into a nice rhythm and was good enough to hold on today.”
Wizard of Westwood broke sharply under Cedillo and set the pace with token pressure from favorite Mi Hermano Ramon. Wizard of Westwood set fractions of 47.97 and 1:12.61 and kept running. His final time was 2:01.27.
“He’s got a stamina-influence pedigree,” McCarthy said. “You saw it today; it kind of worked in his favor.”
Sired by Tu Brutus, the win was Wizard of Westwood’s first stakes and second win overall as he avenged a recent head defeat in the 1 1/8-mile Singletary Stakes won by Mi Hermano Ramon. The Cinema was run for the first time at 1 1/4 miles on Sunday. It was previously 1 1/8 miles.
After the top three, the fourth- through seventh-place Cinema finish order was Smart Uncle, Phosphorescence, El Perfecto and Worcester.
The Cinema was the final turf stakes of the Santa Anita season for 3-year-olds. The summer turf series for 3-year-olds continues at Del Mar with the restricted $100,000 Oceanside Stakes at one mile on July 21 opening day, followed by the Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 6 and Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 3.
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