NEWS
Alphie’s Bet powers to clear Sham win
Posted: Saturday, March 06, 2010 8:03 PM
ALPHIE'S BET
Benoit & Associates photo
To view the Sham Stakes, click here.
by Tim Nichols
Alphie’s Bet flashed an explosive turn of foot on the outside to capture the $150,000 Sham Stakes (G3) on Saturday at Santa Anita Park, giving trainer Alexis Barba a three-year-old stakes double.
Prior to Alphie’s Bet’s win in the Sham, maiden Make Music for Me won the one-mile Pasadena Stakes on the turf and Barba said she will point him to the spring classics. Both horses are Triple Crown nominated.
Breaking from the outside post in the ten-horse field, jockey Alex Solis held Alphie’s Bet in the middle of the pack as Nextdoorneighbor led the ten-horse field through a half-mile in :47.61 and six furlongs in 1:12.22 with Marcello and The Program in stalking position.
Entering the stretch, Solis swung Alphie’s Bet four wide to the center of the lane. With nothing but open space ahead of him, Alphie’s Bet accelerated with a flourish to solidify his Triple Crown trail credentials. He covered 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface in 1:48.72 to win by 2¼ lengths.
“Today, he was very light on his feet,” Solis said. “He was a much sharper horse. But he’s so big, he’s so heavy, when he comes out of the gate, it takes him a while to get into stride. The way he ran today didn’t surprise me at all.”
Setsuko closed well for second, 1 ¼ lengths ahead of third-place finisher The Program.
Alphie’s Bet entered the Sham off a maiden special weight victory on January 15 at Santa Anita, where he won by 1¼ lengths in his fourth start. He finished second to Caracortado in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes on December 26 prior to the maiden win.
Bred in California by Teresa McWilliams, who co-owns the colt with Peter Johnson, Alphie’s Bet is the first starter out of the Candi’s Gold mare Miss Alphie, a half sister to Group 1 winner Absolut Glam. Alphie’s Bet improved to two wins from five starts and $141,320 in earnings with the victory.
One race earlier, Make Music for Me finally broke through for Barba with a one-length win in the Pasadena (video). The Bernstein colt covered one mile on firm turf in 1:35.50.
Despite having just one win to his credit, Make Music for Me is in line for a starting spot in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with $215,000 in graded earnings after finishing in the top four in four graded stakes as a two-year-old. One more solid performance in a graded stakes could seal a spot in the starting gate on May 1 in Churchill Downs.
For Equibase charts, click here.
Tim Nichols is internet content editor of Thoroughbred Times
