Add Calculator to Derby Trail After Sham Runaway

Calculator coasted to victory in the Sham Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita Park. (BENOIT photo)
After twice finishing second in Grade 1 races to Eclipse Award finalist American Pharoah in 2014, Calculator earned a breakthrough first career victory on Saturday at Santa Anita Park in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes.
The morning-line favorite for the $100,000, one-mile race for 3-year-olds, Calculator was bet down to 3-to-5 odds at the start and he exceeded the hype.
After tracking the pace from fifth early under jockey Elvis Trujillo, Calculator launched his winning rally on the far turn and simply overwhelmed the opposition.
The gray colt by In Summation took charge entering the stretch and increased his lead with ground-devouring strides in the stretch to prevail by 4 1/4 lengths in his fifth career start for trainer Peter Miller and owner Richard C. Pell.
CALCULATOR PULLS AWAY IN THE STRETCH

BENOIT photo
The Sham was an incredibly productive race for a colt who had never before visited the winner’s circle. Calculator secured the $60,000 winner’s share, 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard and his first career victory, stakes win and graded stakes win.
“I didn’t expect him to be this good [today],” Miller said. “I was hoping he was good enough to win at 90-percent [fitness]. The water gets deeper from here on out, so we’re going to have to step up our game and move forward off of this one.”
Miller also trains Sham Stakes runner-up Rock Shandy and fourth-place finisher St. Joe Bay. Pioneerof the West finished third.
“I was trying to watch all of them, and I thought I could run one, two, three for a minute, but they ran one, two, four, so it wasn’t bad at all,” Miller said.
Calculator was winless in four races as a 2-year-old. He finished third in his career debut in July at Del Mar and fourth in August, also at Del Mar, before trying stakes competition. Calculator finished second by 4 ¾ lengths to American Pharoah in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and then second again to that rival in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita Park, where he was beaten by 3 ¼ lengths.
Calculator was much the best in his 3-year-old debut, however, and that victory certainly flatters American Pharoah as well as FrontRunner third-place finisher Texas Red, who subsequently won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. A rematch between the three in Southern California on the Triple Crown trail would generate significant buzz.
“We’ll see how the horse comes out, but I wouldn’t rule out coming back in a month in the [Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 7],” Miller said. “The timing of it is good, and when my horses are good, I like to run them. He’s good right now, so I’m going to run him.”
Miller purchased Calculator for $132,000 at the 2014 OBS spring sale of 2-year-olds in training. His dam (mother) is the unraced Alphabet Soup mare Back to Basics, a half-sister (same dam, different sire [father]) to Grade 3 winner Atticus Kristy and stakes winners Distorted Reality and Fiery Dancer. This family also features Grade 1 winners Shackleford and Lady Joanne, and, a little deeper in the pedigree, champion and sire Known Fact as well as Grade 1 winner and sire Tentam.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
PELL GUIDES CALCULATOR TO WINNER'S CIRCLE

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