Photo: Hollywood Park
So Brilliant, a first out winner Oct. 22 at Santa Anita,
will step into graded stakes company in the $100,000 Hollywood Prevue Thursday
at Hollywood Park.
A Grade III for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs over Cushion
Track, the Prevue is the main event on the Thanksgiving Day program. Post time
is 11 a.m. Track gates open at 9 a.m.
Owned by Arnold Zetcher and trained by Bob Baffert, So
Brilliant defeated seven opponents by 2 ¼ lengths as the 7-10 favorite. A gray
son of Medaglia d’Oro and the Wekiva Springs mare Merry Me in Spring, So
Brilliant earned $27,000 for the victory.
The leader among all trainers in terms of Hollywood Prevue
victories, Baffert will be seeking his fifth Thursday. His most recent win was
with Massive Drama in 2007. His other victories came in succession – In
Excessive Bull (1996), Commitisize (1997) and Premier Property (1998).
A full brother to Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic winner Royal
Delta, Empire Way was an impressive first out winner Nov. 13. Owned by Heinz
Steinmann and trained by Mike Harrington, the Empire Maker colt out of the A.P.
Indy mare Delta Princess rallied from last to win by a deceptively easy
half-length going 6 ½ furlongs. The victory was worth $27,000.
A distant second behind eventual Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Sprint winner Secret Circle in the Jack Goodman Stakes Oct. 10,. Galex will
stretch beyond 6 ½ furlongs for the first time in his career.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for Olympia Star Inc., the
Flatter colt out of the Othello mare Oh Caramel has one win in four races and
earnings of $40,630. Inducted into Racing’s Hall of Fame in August,
Hollendorfer has one previous win in the Prevue, scoring with King Glorious in
1988.
Fifth of six as the 2-1 second choice in the Goodman, Sweet
Swap will try to rebound for owner-breeder Jenny Craig’s Craig Family Trust and
trainer John Sadler.
The son of Candy Ride and the Storm Cat mare Fair Exchange –
making him a full brother to multiple graded stakes winner Sidney’s Candy – was
a first out winner Aug. 20 at Del Mar. He’s banked $39,173 in two starts.
Hodge, who defeated maidens at 7-1 in his second start Nov.
5, will aim for a repeat for a partnership that includes John Gallegos and Gary
Margolis and trainer Mike Machowsky. The City Place colt out of the Black Tie
Affair mare Tarahumara has earnings of $27,350.
Sheer Talent returns eight days after finishing seventh of
nine in the Golden Nugget over the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields.
Trained by Dan Hendricks for a partnership, the Wildcat Heir
ridgling and the Langfuhr mare Malpractice has one win in three races while
earning $38,060.
Claimed for $50,000 Sept. 2 at Del Mar, Muchos Besos paid immediate
dividends when knocking off $75,000 maidens Oct. 22 at Santa Anita for owners
Jaam Racing and Mike Henson and Sons and trainer Mike Puype, who won this event
in 1995 with Cobra King.
A Macho Uno gelding out of the Mr. Prospector mare Ryn,
Muchos Besos has earned $18,350.
Runner-up to Hodge earlier in the month, Brother Francis
will seek his maiden win in his second start for owner-breeder Norman Cheng and
trainer Jim Cassidy. The Lion Heart colt out of the Spectrum mare Viapervita
earned $9,000 for his second at Santa Anita.
From the inside out, the field for the Hollywood Prevue
Stakes: Sweet Swap, Garrett Gomez rides, 116 pounds; Brother Francis, Victor
Espinoza, 116; Sheer Talent, Kayla Stra, 116; Empire Way, Joel Rosario, 116;
Hodge, Martin Pedroza, 116; So Brilliant, Martin Garcia, 116; Galex, Rafael
Bejarano, 116 and Muchos Besos, Joe Talamo, 116.