While Bob Baffert's debuting colt Bezos failed to live up to the hype on Saturday, fellow first-time starter Dream Shake created plenty of his own buzz at Santa Anita Park when circling the field to a win a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight. Bezos -- the odds-on favorite in a nine-horse field -- checked in seventh.
Breaking from the outside post, Dream Shake raced near the back of the pack while widest of all down the backstretch as Bezos, stablemate Tivoli Twirl and Mr. Impossible made it three in a line on the front end. After an opening quarter mile in 23.40, Dream Shake and Joel Rosario started to improve their position and launched a bid towards the leaders near the three-eighths pole.
With a half mile in 46.19, Dream Shake ranged up four- or five-wide on the turn while well in hand. Tivoli Twirl quickly dropped anchor at the top of the stretch, Bezos followed shortly after and then Dream Shake spurted clear of Mr. Impossible to win going away by 4 3/4-lengths. The winning time was 1:17.34.
Trained by Peter Eurton, Dream Shake paid $42.00 as the fourth-longest shot on the board for owners Exline-Border Racing, SAF Racing and Richard Hausman. The son of Twirling Candy out of the Street Cry mare Even Song was a $75,000 auction purchase as a 2-year-old.
“Against a field of this stature today, I would’ve been happy with anything fourth and above,” Eurton said. “Now that he’s done this, it’s just a question of how he comes back. I think anything further, seven furlongs to a mile, would be very good. We’ll just try to enjoy this for now, but trust me, we’ll probably be looking for a race before the evening has ended."
In updated Kentucky Derby futures odds from William Hill, Dream Shake was at 75-1 after opening at 100-1. Bezos floated up to 25-1 from 15-1.
