STABLE NOTES BY ED GOLDEN FRIDAY, OCT. 7, 2022

•__ BAFFERT SEEKS 11TH AMERICAN PHAROAH SCORE__ •__ MANDELLA MULLS UPSET IN GRADE II CHANDELIER__ • QUEEN OFTHE TEMPLE SHARP FOR RODEO DRIVE • FLIGHTLINE TO BREEZE FIVE FURLONGS SATURDAY • $1 BEER, SODA, $2 HOT DOGS ON HOLIDAY MONDAY

TWO-TURN TEST TELLING IN AMERICAN PHAROAH

Bob Baffert has a monopoly on winning the American Pharoah Stakes, capturing the race named for his 2015 Triple Crown king 10 times in the past 25 runnings.

The two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer has a monopoly on Saturday’s 51st version of the race with four of the eight entrants: unbeaten Cave Rock and National Treasure, and Gandolfini and the maiden Hejazi who should like the distance.

Baffert’s quartet did not come on the cheap, Gandolfini fetching $470,000, Cave Rock $550,000, National Treasure $500,000 and Hejazi $3,550,000 for a total of $5,070,000.

Past winners of the American Pharoah for Baffert were Souvenir Copy (1997), Flame Thrower (2000), Kafwain (2002), Roman Ruler (2004), Lookin At Lucky (2009), Power Broker (2013), American Pharoah (2014), Game Winner (2018), Eight Rings (2019) and Eclipse champion Corniche last year.

The American Pharoah is a telling event as it marks the first two-turn race for the majority in the field of two-year-olds.

“They get the two-turn test and you never know until they do it,” Baffert said, “so we’ll see.

“I hate to run that many in here, but I didn’t have a lot of options since there aren’t many allowance-type races.”

The winner of the American Pharoah receives $180,000 plus 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The runner-up receives four points, the third-place finisher two and the fourth one.

The nominated winner will be entitled to automatic entry into the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Nov. 4.

The 51st American Pharaoh, run as the FrontRunner Stakes from 2012 to 2017 and the Norfolk Stakes from 1970 to 2011:__ Gandolfini, Edwin Maldonado, 12-1; Man Child, Hector Berrios, 30-1; Macnamara, Tyler Baze, 50-1; Odonata, Abel Cedillo, 20-1; Cave Rock, Juan Hernandez, 4-5; National Treasure, Ramon Vazquez, 6-1; Skinner, Victor Espinoza, 5-1; and Hejazi, Mike Smith, 5-2.__

First post time for Saturday’s 10-race card is 1 p.m.

MANDELLA EYES GRADE I VICTORY WITH MAIDEN

Richard Mandella has a number of surprise victories on his Hall of Fame resume, most notably Dare and Go’s 40-1 upset of Cigar in the 1996 Pacific Classic, ending his remarkable 16-race winning streak.

The Hall of Fame trainer has entered the maiden Ice Dancing in Saturday’s Grade II Chandelier Stakes in hopes of turning the tables on a promising field of two-year-old fillies.

A daughter of the Tapit stallion Frosted, Ice Dancing was third in her debut race on Aug. 14 and third again in the Grade I Del Mar Debutante Sept. 10, both races sprints won by Chandelier entrant And Tell Me Nolies trained by Peter Miller.

At a mile and one-sixteenth, the Chandelier is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Race giving the nominated winner automatic entry into Keeneland’s Juvenile Fillies Nov. 4.

The Chandelier awards $120,000 to the winner, plus 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points

Ice Dancing did not have the smoothest of trips in her two starts, going wide and getting off slowly in her debut race.

Bob Baffert, meanwhile, sends out Home Cooking and Huntingcoco in quest of his 13th win in the Chandelier. “They’re both fast,” he said, “but the two-turn test is very important.” None of the seven entrants has ever raced beyond seven furlongs.

The Chandelier, race six: Naughty Lottie, Ryan Curatolo, 12-1; Ice Dancing, Umberto Rispoli, 10-1; Home Cooking, Mike Smith, 3-1; Huntingcoco, Edwin Maldonado, 7-2; And Tell Me Nolies, Ramon Vazquez, 3-1; Uncontrollable, Juan Hernandez, 15-1; and Justique, Victor Espinoza, 2-1.

RODEO DRIVE DISTANCE SUITS QUEEN OFTHE TEMPLE

Queen Ofthe Temple faces a daunting task trying to win her first stakes race Saturday in the Grade I Rodeo Drive Stakes.

The $300,000 race is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge race for fillies and mares three and up at 1 ¼ miles on the hillside turf course.

A four-year-old daughter of Temple City, the bay Kentucky-bred does have some plusses on her resume of eight races, however, including a third despite being crowded in the Grade III Santa Barbara Stakes at Santa Anita on May 14.

In addition, with a 1-4-2 record, Queen Ofthe Temple is as consistent as the sun rising in the east, runs well fresh and has a penchant for power-housing home in the stretch.

“The further the distance the better for her,” said 40-year-old Dan Blacker, who trains Queen Ofthe Temple for a partnership. “She’s doing really well and we felt taking a shot here would be a good move trying to get her some black type.

“She’ll like the distance, for sure, and we’re just hoping she gets a good trip and at least gets a piece of it.” Queen Ofthe Temple will have her seventh different rider in this her ninth race, as Hector Berrios takes over.

“He had a great Del Mar and we’re pleased to have him on,” Blacker said.

The Rodeo Drive, which goes as race five: Queen Ofthe Temple, Hector Berrios, 30-1; Fluffy Socks, Joe Bravo, 2-1, last year’s Rodeo Drive winner Going to Vegas, Umberto Rispoli, 5-2; Scarabeau, Abel Cedillo, 6-1; Neige Blanche, Juan Hernandez, 5-1; Bellamore, Kyle Frey, 15-1; and Family Way, Mike Smith, 5-2.

LIKELY BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC FAVORITE FLIGHTLINE WORKS SATURDAY

Unbeaten sensation Flightline, the likely post time favorite in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 5 at Keeneland, will work another five eighths of a mile Saturday morning at Santa Anita, according to John Sadler.

As he has the past two Saturdays, Flightline will emerge from Santa Anita’s quarter mile chute accompanied by a stable pony and ridden by Sadler assistant Juan Leyva at approximately 6:30 a.m.

With Leyva aboard last Saturday, Flightline, a 4-year-old colt by Tapit out of the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.40, after which Sadler said, “He went nice and easy, no heavy lifting…This opportunity doesn’t come along come around very often. He’s doing really well and we’ll be working every Saturday.”

With his most recent win coming at Del Mar in the $1 million Pacific Classic Sept. 3, Flightline, who is owned by California-based Hronis Racing, LLC, Siena Farm, LLC, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing, LLC, is scheduled to stay on a seven-day work pattern prior to departing for Lexington on or about Oct. 30.

Flightline, unbeaten in five starts, the last three in Grade I stakes, will stand at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky at the conclusion of his racing career, which is still to be determined.

--Mike Willman

FINISH LINES: Santa Anita presents a four-day racing weekend today through special Holiday racing on Monday, Oct. 10, but there will be no live racing Friday, Oct. 14. Monday is Dollar Day, offering $1 beers and sodas and $2 hot dogs. First post time is 1 p.m. . . . Former trainer Mike Machowsky, now California representative for Fasig-Tipton, will be host Tom Quigley’s guest handicapper today, followed by Golden Gate’s track announcer Matt Dinerman Saturday, and Billy Koch , founder and managing partner of Little Red Feather Racing on Sunday, each day at 11:50 a.m. . . . Juan Hernandez holds a 5-4 lead over Victor Espinoza in the jockey standings early on, while among trainers, Bob Baffert has a 4-3 edge over Doug O’Neill… Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman lead C R K Stable LLC, 4-3, among owners . . . There were 90 recorded workouts this morning, 24 on the training track.