Shakin It Up Rocks the Malibu
It wasn't shocking that a Bob Baffert trainee lived up to his name in taking the Grade I Malibu Stakes Thursday on opening day at Santa Anita Park.
The stunning part was which Baffert entrant that was.
Instead of favored Flashback channeling his early-season form in his second start off a long layoff, Shakin It Up did just that, recording his first Grade I victory at a big price.
A son of Midnight Lute, Shakin It Up captured the Grade III San Vicente at the Malibu route earlier in his 3-year-old year. However, he hadn't been seen since a fourth-place finish going two turns at Sunland Park on March 24, and he was sent away Thursday as the eighth choice in the 11-horse field.
However, Shakin It Up and jockey David Flores sat a dream trip well off a scorching pace. Distinctiv Passion posted scorching early fractions of :21.66 and :43.33, and when the field turned for home, he had nothing left.
Shakin It Up, who was nearly a dozen lengths off the pace with three furlongs to go, swung wide for the stretch run. Flores asked the colt for more through the stretch and he kept responding, outfinishing fellow closers Central Banker and Zeewat to win by a half-length.
The Michael Pegram homebred (also co-owned by Dennis Cardoza) stopped the timer in 1:20.53 for the seven-furlong distance. The Malibu was his third win in six lifetime starts, and the first-place purse pushed his career earnings to more than $367,000.
The win continued a strong stretch for Flores, who had recently been Steven Asmussen's top rider at Fair Grounds. His afternoon in Arcadia was only a short stay, though, as he is on his way to Singapore on a six-month contract.
Flashback, meanwhile, could only manage a fourth-place finish while rating behind that hot pace under Joel Rosario. The favored gray finished four lengths behind his stablemate, and second-choice Bakken settled for fifth after shipping in for Chad Brown.
Our Double Play, Heir of Storm, Distinctiv Passion, Syndicated, Zee Bros, and Holy Lute completed the order of finish.