Elwood J wins Friday feature at Santa Anita

Sent from the opening bell, heavily favored Elwood J was all-out late to win Friday’s $56,000 allowance feature by one length under Flavien Prat. In a driving rain, the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee got six furlongs on a “wet-fast” surface in 1:09.83.

Dispatched at 3-5 in a field of five California-bred or sired horses three years of age, Elwood J paid $3.40, $2.80 and $2.10. Owned by Joe L. Turner, the 3-year-old gelding by Vronsky notched his second win from five starts and with the winner’s share of $33,600, he increased his earnings to $83,940.

“I don’t know how far this horse will go, but he sure ran good today,” said Hollendorfer assistant, Dan Ward, who related that Hollendorfer was “on his way to Florida” to attend this Saturday’s Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park. “We’ll look at some Cal-bred stakes for this horse.”

Facing stiff pressure from eventual third place finisher Harvest a Storm until well inside the sixteenth pole, Elwood J set rapid splits of 21.50, 44.44 and 56.90 and held sway over longshot Popular Kid, who was motoring wide-out.

Ridden by Modesto Linares, Popular Kid, who was last after the first quarter mile, was off at 12-1 and paid $7.00 and $3.40.

Harvest a Storm, who was handled by Luis Contreras, checked in a half length behind Popular Kid and paid $2.80 to show.

With sunny skies forecast for Saturday, Santa Anita will present a nine-race program, highlighted by the Grade II, $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes. First post time is at 12:30 p.m. and admission gates open at 10:30 a.m.

With first time starter Tavasco Road winning Friday’s eighth and final race, Santa Anita’s popular Single Ticket Jackpot Pick Six, with a total pool of $299,497 was hit. One lucky winning ticket was thus worth $272,515. There were 34 consolation tickets that each paid $260.40.

The winning ticket was purchased through Elite Turf Club’s Maryland-based hub for an as-yet undetermined amount.