Danzing Candy Wires Lone Star Handicap

When the Hall of Fame duo of trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith team up, they're a force to be reckoned with. And when they ship to Lone Star Park, much of the attention is going to fall on them.

Which is what happened May 28 as the Baffert-trained Danzing Candy was sent off as the 1-5 favorite in the five-horse field of the $200,000 Lone Star Handicap (G3). And the Twirling Candy   colt delivered, leading at every call in the 1 1/16-mile test and crossing the wire 4 3/4 lengths in front. 

The race Sunday was reminiscent of multiple graded stakes winner Mor Spirit's victory three weeks prior in the Steve Sexton Mile Stakes (G3), where the Baffert trainee, with Smith up, won by 5 3/4 lengths as the odds-on favorite. 

Halo Farm and Jim and Dianne Bashor's Danzing Candy broke sharply out of the gate and was immediately sent to the lead in the three path under Smith. The duo set fractions for the first half-mile of :22.26 and :47.97. Shotgun Kowboy stalked the pace for the first half-mile just to the outside of the leader as second betting choice Texas Chrome, with jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., remained close in third.

As six furlongs went in 1:12.01 and Danzing Candy was galloping easy with a 1 1/2 length lead, Texas Chrome pushed ahead of Shotgun Kowboy and came four wide out of the final turn but was no match for the leader in the stretch. With 2 1/2 lengths on the field in the straight away, Smith brought the whip out in the upper stretch before cruising home in a final time of 1:43.01 on a muddy track. 

Texas Chrome held on for second while Shotgun Kowboy was four lengths back in third. Neck 'n Neck and longshot Carouse completed the order of finish. 

The winner returned $2.60, $2.10, and $2.10 across the board. 

Sunday's win was Danzing Candy's second score of his 4-year-old season, as he also won an allowance optional claiming race May 5 at Santa Anita Park. As a 3-year-old, he won the San Felipe Stakes (G2) and ran fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on his way to the 2016 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), where he finished off the board after leading the field through six furlongs. He ran once more in 2016, losing by a half-length in the Affirmed Stakes (G3). 

Bred in Kentucky by his co-owner Halo Farms, Danzing Candy is out of the Songandaprayer mare Talkin and Singing. He now has a record of 5-1-1 from nine starts, with earnings of $550,930.