Santa Anita roundup: Defunded, Brickyard Ride win Saturday

An odds-on, multiple stakes winner who was expected to be onthe lead in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita,Defunded took a crow hop leaving the gate and instead of being in front, foundhimself last in a field of six, four lengths off the lead around the clubhouseturn.

It mattered not, however. The classy 5-year-old geldingcruised into contention around the far turn and then fairly mowed down thecompetition in a command performance that enabled to him to win by threelengths.

Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Juan Hernández,Defunded got 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.91 and certainly appears headed to the HollywoodGold Cup (G1) on the same track going 1 1/4 miles May 29.

With Mr. Impossible and Midnight Mammoth battling for earlysupremacy, Midnight Mammoth took the lead going up the backside. He was headedmidway around the far turn by Brazil-bred Royal Ship, but Defunded, under avigorous hand ride, got on terms with both of them at the top of the lane, andhis class prevailed from there.

“He was standing really good, and at the last moment, hedecided to take a step back. and at that time they gave us the break, so hekind of hopped in the air,” said Hernández, who registered his second stakeswin of the day.“After the bad break, herelaxed very well behind those horses. He wasn’t rank at all, and down thebackside I felt like I had a lot of horse.

“Around the three-eighths I swung out, and I put him in theclear, and when I did that, he picked it up by himself. I just let him go, andhe caught the horses.”

Most recently a close third in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1)on March 4, Defunded was off at 1-5 and paid $2.40, $2.10 and $2.10.

“He’s always had a little issue at the gate,” said Baffert,who notched his fourth career win in the Californian. “Juan said that he wasstanding perfect, and right when they kicked it, he stepped back, and that’swhy he hopped out of there. ... (Hernández) said he was never rank. He was inthe bridle, and he was just being patient with him. ... Down the backside I wasn’tsure. I thought we missed the race.

“I almost didn’t run him in here, but he was doing so well,I put him in the race to freshen him up a little bit. ... I like the fact thathe has always been one-dimensional, and it looks like now he’s maturing,getting older, and he is starting to fill out. He’s always been a little bit ofa head case, but now he’s figuring it out, and he knows he’s a good horse, sothat’s important.”

By Dialed In out of the Touch Gold mare Wind Caper, Defundedis owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. In garnering his thirdcareer graded-stakes win, he improved his overall mark to 16: 6-4-2. With thewinner’s share of $120,000, he increased his earnings to $1,348,100.

Trained by Richard Mandella and ridden by Mike Smith, RoyalShip finished second by one length in front of Midnight Mammoth and paid $3.00and $2.20 as the second choice at 9-2.

Ridden by Kyle Frey, Midnight Mammoth was off at 15-1 andpaid $3.20 to show while finishing a half-length better than fellow long shotKiss Today Goodbye.

Fractions for the race were 23.22, 47.35, 1:11.00 and1:35.82.

Brickyard Ride wins again in Kona Gold

With a recent race under his belt, California-bred Brickyard Ride demonstrated his customary speed and considerable class Saturday, when heheld off a determined Anarchist late to take the $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes (G3),becoming only the second horse to register repeat victories in the 38-yearhistory of the race.

Owned and bred by Alfred Pais, trained by Craig Lewis andridden by Hernández, Brickyard Ride got 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.84.

Quick from the gate but anything but lonely on the lead,Brickyard Ride was pressed to the far turn by a threesome comprised ofAnarchist, Armagnac and Positivity.

Approaching the three-furlong pole, Hernández managed toopen up on Anarchist by 1 1/2 lengths. This was perhaps the winning move, sinceBrickyard Ride was all out late to prevail while Anarchist was steadily closingthe gap on the money.

Idle since May 29 prior to running third down the hillsideturf course in the San Simeon (G3) on March 5, Brickyard Ride, one of threeCalifornia-breds in a field of five older horses, was off at 4-5 and paid$3.60, $2.40 and $2.10.