Shoemaker Mile Draws Power-Packed Field

The Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile drew some of the West Coast’s top turf horses, and will serve as Saturday’s co-feature at the Great Race Place. Seven horses will line up to run for the winner’s share of the $400,000 purse, and five of them have previously won graded stakes races.

The 9/5 morning line favorite is the race’s defending champion, Obviously. The front-running son of Choisir has won 10 of his 19 career starts, and he surpassed the $1 million mark in career earnings with a score in the Grade 3 American Stakes last month. A hard-knocking 6-year-old, Obviously has run exclusively in graded company since the summer of 2012, and may be best known for his third-place finish behind Wise Dan and Animal Kingdom in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Obviously won’t have it easy on Saturday, though. Winning Prize, the 5/2 second choice, carries a race-high 124 pounds following his victory in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile earlier this year. The Neil Drysdale trainee is a perfect 2-for-2 at Santa Anita, as he also captured the Arcadia this past February.

Longtime West Coast stalwart Silentio will also go postward in the Shoemaker. He is winless in two starts this season, but some of his best races have come in Arcadia. Silentio won the 2012 Sir Beaufort on this surface, and also finished a close-up third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.

The Shoemaker also features two East Coast shippers. Multiple graded stakes-winner Jack Milton flies in for Todd Pletcher, and he is the third choice on the morning line at 3-1. The son of War Front is a perfect 2-for-2 this season and most recently captured the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont Park in runaway fashion. Additionally, Summer Front ships in for the red-hot Christophe Clement and brings jockey Joe Bravo with him. A seven-time stakes winner, Summer Front captured the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream Park earlier this year, and was last seen running second in the Fort Marcy last month at Belmont.

Tom’s Tribute and Pulpit’s Express round out the field, which will be sent on its way at approximately 4:10 p.m. Pacific time Saturday. The other co-feature is the Grade 1 Vanity, which will go off at 4:45 and is headlined by Adoration Stakes winner and 2-1 morning line favorite Let Faith Arise.