Mr. Roary Closes to Take Eddie D.

Guns Loaded got his nose down to hit the wire first in the $100,000 Eddie D. Stakes (G3T), but without jockey Rafael Bejarano, who he dropped leaving the gate, the victory wasn't his to take.

The D'wildcat gelding made sure to have an impact on the race, however.

After the incident at the start, Guns Loaded was at least a dozen lengths behind the field early in the about 6 1/2-furlong race down the Santa Anita Park hillside turf course, but weaved his way through the nine other horses to find clear running in the stretch.

In the process he caused favored Om to check early on, then dueled to the wire with late leader Tribalist. Whether Tribalist would have won without the late pressure will never be known for sure, but it certainly didn't help the Tribal Rule gelding, who was passed in the final strides by Mr. Roary.

Last of nine early, Kretz Racing's Mr. Roary still had plenty of ground to make up turning for home and closed a 4 1/2-length gap with a furlong to run to win by a neck under jockey Tyler Conner. It was the first local win in seventeen starts for Conner since he relocated to Southern California from Pennsylvania in early September and the first graded stakes score of the 23-year-old rider's career.

A stakes winner in 2016 as a 3-year-old, the George Papaprodromou trainee also placed in the July 22 Eddie Read Stakes (G2T) at Del Mar, but left the gate in the Eddie D. at odds of 22-1.

"I know we were a longshot, but he handled everything well," Conner said. "I thought we'd be in back, but then the field opened up and he just kicked on. ... He's a bit of a long-striding horse, so I figured I'd just let him settle. I was sitting behind the favorite most of the way, and when I saw him angle out, I kind of jumped in. The loose horse made things a little interesting, but we got through and when he saw daylight, he kicked on."

Tribalist finished second, a half-length head of Om, and jockey Victor Espinoza said the loose horse may have cost the runner-up finisher the victory.

"The loose horse kind of cost me the race," Espinoza said. "You just don't know where they're going to go or what they're going to do. So I had to just go. I had to move earlier than what I wanted and just got nailed right away, but overall he still ran well."

Rocket Heat set a rapid early pace—with fractions of :21.03 and :43.02 through a half-mile—but tired harshly late to finish last of nine. Mr. Roary, a son of Scat Daddy, hit the wire in 1:11.99.

Bred in Kentucky by Judy Hicks and Kathryn Nikkel, out of the Seattle Slew mare If Angels Sang, Mr. Roary now has a 4-2-2 record from 18 starts with earnings of $243,310.

"We just thought we'd give this race a shot," Papaprodromou said. "He's been running long all this time and the Eddie D. sounded good. Obviously it worked out good and now I'll talk to the owner, and we'll probably look at the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) next."

Forever Juanito came in fourth, and was followed by Coastline, Prize Exhibit, Zarqua Star, California Diamond, and Rocket Heat, to complete the order of finish.