Rivals Back to Challenge 'Candy' in SA Derby

Almost every runner Danzing Candy put away to win the San Felipe (gr. II) impressively last time out will be back to challenge the son of Twirling Candy   April 9 in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (gr. I), Southern California’s last Triple Crown prep.



Returning for the 1 1/8-mile test at Santa Anita Park (in order of their San Felipe finish) are Mor Spirit, Exaggerator, Uncle Lino, and Smokey Image. The only San Felipe runner sitting out is last-place I Will Score.



"He’s doing good," trainer Cliff Sise said of Danzing Candy, who is the 9-5 second choice on the morning line. "He’s eating good, training good, everything is good. … We were hoping he’d show that in (the San Felipe). I thought he could do something like that, because I know how he is, but all I could do was say, ‘Keep going, keep going.' "



BALAN: Danzing Candy Speeds to San Felipe Victory



The morning-line favoritism, however, has landed on the Bob Baffert-trained Mor Spirit, owned by Michael Lund Peterson, who was two lengths—albeit gaining—behind Danzing Candy in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe. The added ground figures to help the son of Eskendereya, who came into the San Felipe off back-to-back wins in the Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) and the Robert B. Lewis (gr. III).

NOVAK: Mor Spirit Secures Robert B. Lewis Score



Exaggerator made what appeared to be a winning move in the final turn of the San Felipe, when he closed from a far-back last to move within a length of Danzing Candy, but could not get past the winner in the stretch and was passed late for second by Mor Spirit.



"I don't have any complaints about how the San Felipe set up," trainer Keith Desormeaux said of Exaggerator’s San Felipe. "He ran a decent middle quarter to make up the distance that he was from off the pace, and he should be able to do that. The horse is very talented, yet I still can't explain why he didn't finish better.”



Another trainer who was searching for answers after the San Felipe was Carla Gaines, who saw the previously undefeated California-bred son of Southern Image   race wide throughout and end up 18 3/4 lengths behind the winner in fifth.



“He just never ran. It was weird,” Gaines said. “He was never in the race. (Jockey) Victor (Espinoza) said at the three-quarter pole, he knew the horse wasn’t going to run.

"He came back fine and we just sort of revamped his training to change things up, but I don’t really have a reason for that performance. If he wasn’t able to handle the open company, you could see him finishing third or fourth, five lengths back, but he just never even picked up the bit. He just wasn’t there. If only they could talk.”



The field isn’t remiss of new shooters, either. The most intriguing is up-and-coming Iron Rob, at 12-1 on the morning line, who bested fellow Santa Anita Derby entrant Denman's Call by 1 1/2 lengths last time out in the San Pedro Stakes, but that was sprinting six furlongs at Santa Anita. The Twirling Candy colt also won the off-the-turf Baffle Stakes a race prior.



BALAN: Iron Rob Upsets Denman's Call in San Pedro



Another runner with formidable wins on his résumé is 15-1 Dressed in Hermes, but all three of his victories—the Pasadena Stakes last time out March 13, along with the Cecil B. DeMille (gr. IIIT) and Zuma Beach—have been on the Santa Anita turf. Trained by Janet Armstrong, the Budget Stable homebred Hat Trick   gelding hasn’t finished better than fourth in two starts on the Santa Anita dirt, including his run in the Robert B. Lewis.



Maiden winners Rare Candy (a third son of Twirling Candy in the field) and Diplodocus round out the field.