Santa Anita Stable Notes Sunday, January 24, 2021

By Ed Golden —-

SAN FELIPE LIKELY NEXT FOR THE GREAT ONE
MILLER HAS OPTIONS WITH STEADY MULTIPLIER
TVG AIRS ECLIPSE AWARD WINNERS THURSDAY
THE WILD ONE GETS 104 BEYER IN PALOS VERDES ROMP

Wow!

The exclamations were still relevant this morning less than 24 hours after The Great One demolished a field of maidens with a 14-length triumph in Saturday’s second race, a one-mile event that likely will lead to the Grade II, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at a mile and 1/16 on March 6.

Doug O’Neill plans to “monitor the colt and then huddle up with the boys (owners)” before making a decision

“That’s probably the logical spot right now,” said O’Neill, who trains the Louisiana-bred son of his 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist for an ownership group that includes Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson’s ERJ Racing, LLC, thus the colt’s name.

“Erik named him for Wayne Gretzky, one of Eric’s idols growing up,” O’Neill said, clarifying that the $185,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales purchase was not named after the late Jackie Gleason, a multi-talented actor, comedian, writer, composer and conductor deservingly known affectionately as “The Great One.”

“Erik and Wayne are friends,” O’Neill added, “so it’s pretty cool.”

Gretzky, lest we forget, holds a host of hockey records that would fill a goalie’s net, and is not only considered by many the greatest hockey player of all-time, but in some quarters, the greatest athlete of all time, justifying his nickname, “The Great One.”

Gretzky, now 59, played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1978 to 1999, with his next shot on goal a high priority as he adhered to the credo, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

Even O’Neill was surprised by the ease with which The Great One broke his maiden.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “You never figure on winning like that. Your main focus is just trying to get him to the wire first. You never figure they’re going to win by 14, although he had been training really, really well. Each race had been better than the previous one.

“Since we added blinkers (last Nov. 29), he’s really focused. It’s very exciting and hopefully we’ll have more fun down the road.”

Triple Crown temptation continues for Team O’Neill this Saturday when two other precocious three-year-olds run in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Hot Rod Charlie and impressive maiden winner Wipe the Slate.

Stay tuned.

OPTIONS AWAIT MONEY EARNER MULTIPLIER

Peter Miller was weighing options for Multiplier as the versatile gray son of The Factor is nominated to both this Saturday’s Grade II San Pasqual Stakes at a mile and an eighth on the main track and the Grade II San Marcos Stakes at a mile and a quarter on turf.

“We’re thinking about those two races but I’m not sure right now,” Miller said Sunday morning. “We also might consider dropping him in an allowance race.”

While winning just three of 33 starts, the seven-year-old gelding has more than paid his way winning on both dirt and turf while earning a hefty $562,600.

He began his career at Fair Grounds in New Orleans way back in 2017 when trained by Brendan Walsh and was unplaced in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes that year.

Under Miller’s training in 2018, he won an overnight grass race at Santa Anita, then moved to the Bill Mott stable in 2019 before rejoining Miller for his last 10 races.

“He’s a hard-knocking horse that tries really hard and collects a lot of checks, although he doesn’t win very often,” Miller said. “He can run on any surface. He’s a cool horse.”

TVG TO TELEVISE ECLIPSE AWARDS ON THURSDAY

TVG will televise live the 50th Eclipse Awards ceremony, presented by Spendthrift Farm, on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. The ceremony also will be streamed on additional outlets.

The Eclipse Awards, honoring excellence in Thoroughbred racing, are voted upon by NTRA, represented by member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, NTWAB and Daily Racing Form, and are produced by the NTRA.

FINISH LINES: With five wins in the last two days, Doug O’Neill moved into a tie for the training lead with Peter Miller at 10 each. O’Neill has started 10 more horses than Miller, 67 to 57. Abel Cedillo won three races Saturday giving him seven the last two days and 12 for the meet, good for fifth in the standings behind Juan Hernandez (20), Umberto Rispoli (16), Joel Rosario (15) and Flavien Prat (14) . . . Morning Line Maker Jon White reports that O’Neill trainees The Great One earned a 92 Beyer Speed figure in breaking his maiden yesterday and The Wild One got a 104 Beyer in taking the Grade III Palos Verdes Stakes…There were no workouts at Santa Anita this morning . . . Santa Anita is dark Tuesday through Thursday. Live racing resumes 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29.

LATEST CONTENT FROM XBTV:

WORKOUTS:

Constantina (Callaghan) 1-23-21

Brown Storm (McCarthy) 1-23-21

New Heat (Saavedra) 1-23-21

Love and Peace (Drysdale) 1-23-21

Bob and Jackie (Outside) and Noble Reflection (Baltas) 1-22-21

Charlatan (Baffert) 1-22-21

Tizamagician (Outside) and Royal Ship (Mandella) 1-22-21

Frontier Market (Sadler) 1-21-21

Bezos (Outside) and Speed Pass (Baffert) 1-21-21

Hard Not To Love (Sherriffs) 1-21-21

St Helena (Puype) 1-21-21

For The Good Times (Gallagher) 1-21-21

Quinnie (Cerin) 1-21-21

Prince Ricky (Lewis) 1-20-21

Queen Larissa Jane (Outside) and Judas (Cecil) 1-20-21

United (Mandella) 1-18-21

Campaign (Sadler) 1-18-21

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