Edwards Going Left battles to Santa Anita's Tiznow Stakes win

In one of the most intense stretch battles of the Winter Meet, Edwards Going Left prevailed by a half length over King Abner in Sunday’s $100,000 Tiznow Stakes at Santa Anita. Trained by John Sadler and ridden by Joel Rosario, Edwards Going Left, a 5-year-old California-bred gelding by Midnight Lute, got a flat mile over a main track listed as “good” in 1:35.81.

Athough he broke a bit tardily, Edwards Going Left overcame some early crowding to find the rail around the Club House turn and then vied for the early lead with King Abner and Tyler Baze, as “Ed” enjoyed a half length advantage three furlongs from home. Mid-way on the far turn, Baze turned up the heat, and with Edwards Going Left at the rail, the two of them raced head and head to the wire from the five sixteenths pole.

“He broke a little slow, so I was having to use him a little right away,” said Rosario. “It looked like a nice spot was there on the rail and he was wanting to go towards it. There was room, so I dipped him in and he did the rest. I wanted to have him wherever he wanted to be and he was happy and traveling well once there.

“He tried really hard today and fought back. Last time I rode him (second in a classified allowance going seven furlongs here on Feb. 8), he was trying to go by the other horses and didn’t quit, so when we were in it today... I saw the same thing from him.” 

The 6-5 favorite in a field of five older California-bred or sired horses, Edwards Going Left paid $4.40, $2.20 and $2.10.

Owned by Hronis Racing, LLC, Edwards Going Left, who was claimed out of his debut for a Cal-bred maiden $50,000 claiming tag 18 starts back on Feb. 9, 2017, notched his third stakes win and improved his overall mark to 19-8-3-4. With the winner’s share of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $588,810.

“The track seems like the horses in front were running really well, so I told Joel to ride him out of the gate, get him a good position, then figure out what you want to do,” said Sadler. “He’s such a nice horse, if you look at his form, he doesn’t have a bad race on there... 

“It was a great stretch drive, I’ve got a lot of confidence with Joel. He’s so strong and if you notice, very little whipping, it’s him just riding him and carrying him. He’s a very strong rider.” 

For his part, King Abner, who finished some 8 ½ lengths clear of second choice Surfing Star, ran an incredible race in defeat and was actually coming back on at the wire. Trained by Phil D’Amato, King Abner was off at 5-2 and paid $3.20 and $2.10.

Surfing Star, who was third throughout, finished 6 ½ lengths in front of Unusually Green. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Surfing Star was off at 8-5 and paid $2.10 to show. 

Fractions on the race were 23.11, 46.20, 1:10.12 and 1:22.65. 

The Tiznow, named for the California-bred two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, is for California-bred or sired horses and is part of the Golden State Series, which is sponsored by the CTBA.