Count Again leads field of 7 set for Saturday's G2 San Gabriel

Ontario, Canadian-bred Count Again, fresh off the biggest win of his career in what was his first start for Phil D’Amato, will try to employ similar tactics under Juan Hernandez as he heads a field of seven older horses going a mile and one eighth on turf in Saturday’s $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita.

A 6-year-old gelding by Awesome Again, Count Again is one of five horses exiting the Seabiscuit Stakes (G2), which was run at a mile and one sixteenth over the Del Mar turf on Nov. 28.  Previously headquartered in Toronto at Woodbine Racecourse, Count Again took a Grade 3 turf stakes there three starts back at a mile and one quarter and should relish the added sixteenth of a mile on Saturday.  With four wins from eight starts, Count Again earned a career best 100 Beyer Speed figure in the Seabiscuit.

Peter Miller’s Anothertwistafate, fourth as the 2-1 favorite with Joel Rosario in the Seabiscuit, will try to turn the tables on Count Again in what will be his second turf try.  A lightly raced 5-year-old colt by Scat Daddy, he won the Longacres Mile (G3) in his first start of 2020 on Sept 10.  With Rosario riding him back in the San Gabriel, he’ll be seeking his fifth win from 10 career starts.

Richard Baltas will be represented by a pair of horses coming off solid third place finishes, Bob and Jackie, who was third going a mile on turf in the City of Hope Mile (G3) on Oct. 3, and the venerable Next Shares, who rallied to be third in the Seabiscuit at odds of 20-1.

Off the board in just two of eight starts, Bob and Jackie sat a close second early in the City of Hope and finished third, beaten three lengths while earning a career best 100 Beyer with Heriberto Figueroa, who has guided him to four wins from eight overall starts.  A three-time minor stakes winner, this 5-year-old horse by Twirling Candy will seek his first graded win on Saturday.

Next Shares, an 8-year-old gelding by Archarcharch, rallied to be beaten 1 ½ lengths by Count Again in the Seabiscuit and must be respected as a late threat.  A winner of the 2019 San Gabriel, Next Shares is the leading money earner in the field with $1,833,071 from an overall mark of 36-7-5-4.