GRADE I, $300,000 LA BREA FOR 3-YEAR-OLD FILLIES &GRADE II, $150,000 SIR BEAUFORT AT ONE MILE ON GRASS COMPLEMENT DEEP PROGRAM
ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 26, 2012)—Although The Lumber Guy disappointed as the heavy 4-5 favorite in the day’s main event, the weatherman cooperated as skies cleared by mid-morning and Santa Anita was every bit it’s majestically iconic self as The Great Race Place opened Wednesday for the 76th time and treated fans to a graded stakes triple header headed by the 60th running of the Grade I, $300,000 Malibu Stakes, for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs.
The Malibu provided fans with a near record-setting performance as longshot Jimmy Creed powered home under Garrett Gomez to win by three quarters of a length in a rapid 1:20.36—less than two fifths of a second off Spectacular Bid’s 1:20 flat Malibu clocking in 1980, a track and stakes record that stood for 30 years.
Trained by Richard Mandella and owned by B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm, Jimmy Creed had trained well since running an even ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 3, a race in which The Lumber Guy had run second. Ridden for the sixth consecutive time by Gomez, the son of Distorted Humor tackled pacesetter Private Zone and Martin Pedroza at the top of the stretch, gradually wearing him down in game fashion.
“Garrett gave him a great ride, kept him out of the dirt as best he could,” said Mandella. “The horse doesn’t like dirt in his face and that’s basically what bothered him in the Breeders’ Cup. We trained him behind horses and schooled him as much as we could, so I just told Garrett it was up to him to do what he thinks best…We’ll probably look at the Strub (Feb. 2) and the Santa Anita Handicap (March 2), all that kind of stuff.”
Although significant rain fell overnight and into early morning, the main track was listed as fast for the Malibu, with splits of 22.74, 44.77 and 1:08.27 serving as ready indicators of a glib surface.
“I was trying to follow John (Velazquez, on The Lumber Guy) because I thought his horse would be a bit wider than Martin’s (Pedroza) horse (Private Zone),” said Gomez. “When we started to turn for home John’s horse started to stop and I just slid out. It was a beautiful trip. It was a good learning experience for this horse and he just keeps getting better…Hopefully he just continues to keep doing what he’s doing.”
Off at 8-1, Jimmy Creed paid $19.20, $8.80 and $7.00. Private Zone, dispatched at 15-1, held second, 2 ¼ lengths in front of Unbridled’s Note and Corey Nakatani. Private Zone returned $11.00 and $8.00. Unbridled’s Note paid $4.40 to show.
Jimmy Creed more than doubled his career earnings, picking up $180,000, which ran his bankroll to $313,000. His record stands at 7-3-2-1.
As for the Lumber Guy, it obviously wasn’t his day. “He just didn’t come with any running at all,” said Velazquez, who flew in from Florida ride the son of Grand Slam who had been transferred from Eastern-based trainer Michael Hushion to Neil Drysdale following the Breeders’ Cup. “(It was) probably the first time I rode him on a wet track, a muddy track. He was going so well the first part of the race. I was very confident in what he was doing. I gave him his head but he didn’t go anywhere.”
Conversely, trainer Doug O’Neill was giddy about the way runner-up Private Zone ran.
