ARCADIA — It’s meant to be a showcase for the best California-bred horses, but the show was stolen by jockeys in five stakes races at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Perennial Santa Anita leader rider Juan Hernandez made no mistake aboard the equine star of the day, sending heavily favored Kings River Knight right to the front and leading all the way as the 7-year-old gelding won the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes for the turf milers for the third year in a row and paid $2.40.
Others made it more dramatic.
Kazushi Kimura, suddenly back in stride a January leg fracture cost him time and business, sprang the day’s big upset in a looping rally aboard the 3-year-old gelding Santa Barbarian ($89.20) in the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes, two hours after nursing the 4-year-old filly Sneaker ($6.60) through a front-running duel to win the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes turf mile.
Umberto Rispoli, still basking in Journalism’s Preakness win, provided 4-year-old Private Gem ($7) with a perfect mid-pack trip and rallied to score a mild upset in the $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes sprint.
And most entertaining of all, Kent Desormeaux, the 55-year-old Hall of Famer who’s had setbacks because of alcohol, called on all of his experience to help the 3-year-old filly Om N Joy ($6) recover from a terrible start to win the $125,000 Melair Stakes.
“She proved to be a lot better than I thought she was, because she had no right to win today (after the bad start) and she did it anyway,” Desormeaux said, crediting the filly and trainer Aggie Ordonez.
Desormeaux said Om N Joy threw her head just as the gate opened for the 1 1/16-mile Melair. Usually in touch with the leaders early in her races, Om N Joy was still a distant last in the field of six, nine lengths behind leader Fibonaccis Ride, on the turn for home. The winner caught 15-1 shot Going Deep in the final yards to win by one-half length.
“That is why you ride Kent Desormeaux,” Ordonez said.
Desormeaux said the key was not trying to get all of those lost lengths back too quickly.
“(That’s) exactly how I’ve ridden for (32,985) mounts,” Desormeaux said. “That’s not plan A (or) C or D, that’s plan F. It’s just (to) try to get in a position where it’s time to go.
“On the far turn, I said, ‘OK, show me what you got.’ She’s tremendous.”
Private Gem won his third in a row, and first at the stakes level, to reward trainer Mark Glatt for switching the 4-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky from turf back to dirt.
“Umberto rode a perfect race,” Glatt said. “Maybe we’d have beat Book Smart today anyway, but it didn’t hurt my feelings that he got hooked (by Tapatio Leo) under fast fractions.”
Kings River Knight won for the 11 th time in 18 career starts, including seven Cal-bred stakes victories.
“He’s just a hard-trying horse, and it’s easy to love him,” said trainer John Sadler.
Kimura’s win was his first in a Santa Anita stakes race since the talented Japanese jockey’s Jan. 16 starting-gate accident, though he won with the brilliant 4-year-old filly Kopion in the Grade I Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs. Kimura added an allowance-level win with No Cap ($16.40).
“It was nice to see Kaz get a stakes win,” said George Papaprodromou, trainer of Sneaker, not knowing there’d be another big one coming for Kimura later in the day.
FINISH LINES
Maybe the stage for an afternoon of drama for jockeys at Santa Anita was set when Kyle Frey rode Less Is More to a $28.40 win in the first race, 24 hours after Navy Jack’s fall sent the jockey to the hospital for examination. Frey was sore but escaped injury. Navy Jack was reported OK on Sunday. … The accident in Friday’s first race led to suspensions of two other jockeys involved. Armando Aguilar, who rode Mongolian Altai, was set down seven days by the Santa Anita stewards. Adrian Escobedo, who was on White Mountain, got three days. … Splendora, who has been chasing Kopion and Richi, is 6-5 on the morning line with Juan Hernandez riding for Bob Baffert in Sunday’s Grade II Santa Margarita Stakes.
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