BOURBON BAY GETS ANOTHER CHANCE AGAINST CHAMP PEGASUS IN GRADE II SAN MARCOS AS SANTA ANITA PRESENTS KING HOLIDAY RACING CARD ON MONDAY

ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 14, 2011) – Bourbon Bay, the West Coast’s premier turf marathoner in 2010 before late-developing Champ Pegasus rocketed to the top, will attempt to reverse the condition Monday when eleven grass specialists contest Santa Anita’s Grade II, $150,000 San Marcos Stakes at 1 ¼ miles on turf.

The 59th running of the San Marcos is the main attraction of a nine-race holiday program on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day that includes the 19th running of the $75,000 San Pedro Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 ½ furlongs. First post is at 12:30 p.m.

Unbeaten over the Santa Anita turf, Bourbon Bay last year ran the table on the winter/spring meet’s Grade II turf marathons – the San Luis Obispo, San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano Handicaps – after dominating a mile-and-one-half allowance event.

But when he returned to racing from a 5 ½-month vacation, Champ Pegasus had ascended to local division leadership, which he validated by winning the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Hollywood Park on Oct. 3 as comebacking Bourbon Bay ran third, one length behind.

Champ Pegasus, who had not won a stakes race until taking the Grade II Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 29, followed his Hirsch triumph with a game runner-up effort to Great Britain-based Dangerous Midge at odds of 9-1 in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6.

Freshened since the Breeders’ Cup by trainer Richard Mandella, Champ Pegasus has trained forwardly for his return and will be reunited with jockey Joel Rosario. They had led into the stretch of the Turf before finally yielding to the winner by 1 ¼ lengths.

“I gave the jockey an open ticket,” Mandella said in reviewing the Breeders’ Cup performance. “I was afraid if we took him back, we’d get buried behind a slow pace and no one would go to the lead. I said, ‘We might as well let him gallop along,’ and it almost worked.”

Champ Pegasus, who didn’t break his maiden until four days before Bourbon Bay’s victory in the April 18 San Juan Capistrano, is expected to be a solid favorite in his comeback. The 5-year-old son of Fusaichi Pegasus has won 4 of his last 6 starts while finishing second in both the Breeders’ Cup Turf and Hollywood Park’s Grade III Sunset Handicap. His overall record stands at 4-3-1 in nine starts. Champ Pegasus has earned $898,520 for owners/breeders Diamond A Racing Corp. and Arturo Vargas.

Trainer Neil Drysdale has kept Bourbon Bay out of action since he rallied for third in the Hirsch. A minor setback kept the son of Sligo Bay without a workout for nearly one month, but he has been training steadily since Dec. 5.

Rafael Bejarano, Bourbon Bay’s regular rider, is optimistic. “He definitely needed his last race,” said Bejarano. “He closed some ground and was in against some good horses. I think he’s going to be tough in this race, and a mile-and-a-quarter should be perfect for him.” The 5-year-old gelding, owned by David and Jill Heerensperger, owns an overall record of 5-2-3 in 14 starts. He has earned $419,424. The Heerenspergers and Drysdale won the San Marcos two years ago with 8-year-old Artiste Royal.

Champ Pegasus will share high weight of 123 pounds with Unusual Suspect, three more than the 120 to be borne by Bourbon Bay. Unusual Suspect is coming off a 10-1 upset victory in the Grade I Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 ½ miles on Nov. 13. The win ended a 16-race losing streak for the son of Unusual Heat co-owned and trained by Barry Abrams. The San Marcos marks the 56th career start for the 7-year-old bay who will be ridden by Corey Nakatani. Unusual Suspect has earned $1,035,171 from a 9-8-6 record.

Drysdale will also send out Marlang, a 6-year-old Canadian-bred son of Langfuhr who defeated Champ Pegasus by one length in Hollywood Park’s Sunset Handicap. Marlang subsequently finished fourth behind Champ Pegasus in the Hirsch.

Garrett Gomez, who has ridden the winners of the last three runnings of the San Marcos, has the mount on Sebastian Flyte for trainer Ben Cecil and Triple B Farms. The British-bred 4-year-old has raced three times in the United States and most recently lost by a neck to Haimish Hy in the Grade I Hollywood Derby at 1 ¼ miles on turf on Nov. 28 at Hollywood Park.

The complete field for the San Marcos Stakes (eighth race), with jockeys and weights in post position order: Philatelist, Patrick Valenzuela, 118; Imponente Purse, Chantal Sutherland, 118; Unusual Suspect, Corey Nakatani, 123; Riviera Cocktail, Alonso Quinonez, 118; Marlang, David Flores, 118; Bourbon Bay, Rafael Bejarano, 120; Where’s the Remote, Joseph Talamo, 118; Buenos Dias, Brice Blanc, 118; Expansion, Victor Espinoza, 118; Sebastian Flyte, Garrett Gomez, 118, and Champ Pegasus, Joel Rosario, 123.

Seven sophomores were entered in the San Pedro Stakes including a pair trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, whose barn is especially deep in 3-year-olds this season. Baffert will saddle impressive maiden debut winner Sinai and Classic Legacy, who was a close third in a Group III stakes at Woodbine Racecourse following victories in his first two starts. Bejarano has the call on Zayat Stables’ Sinai, who broke his maiden sprinting by two lengths at Hollywood Park on Dec. 18. Mr Artistic M D may be the one to beat after rallying to break his maiden at first asking on Oct. 24 and winning by 1 ¼ lengths versus winners in his second start on Dec. 16. Both races were run at Hollywood Park. Rosario seeks a three-peat aboard the Mr. Greeley gelding trained by Kathy Walsh. Mr Artistic M D was purchased by Mark Dedomenico for $160,000 as a yearling.

A compelling import is City Cool for trainer Steve Asmussen. In his third start at Churchill Downs, the City Zip offspring broke his maiden by 8 ½ lengths. Two races later, he ventured west to New Mexico, where he registered his second victory, winning by 7 ¼ lengths in the $107,000 Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park. Joe Talamo has the mount.

The complete field for the San Pedro Stakes (seventh race), with jockeys and weights in post position order: Industry Leader, Espinoza, 115; Classic Legacy, Gomez, 117; Sinai, Bejarano, 115; Indian Winter, Martin Pedroza, 115; City Cool, Talamo, 119; Mr Artistic M D, Rosario, 117, and Arcadian, Valenzuela, 115.

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