Faith Proof Scores Again at Los Alamitos
Faith Proof became the first two-time winner of the Winter thoroughbred meet, rolling to another easy victory Thursday at Los Alamitos.
Twelve days after defeating $8,000 claimers by 6 ¼ lengths in her first for trainer Mark Glatt, the 3-year-old daughter of Idiot Proof had no problem handling the bump into a $23,520 starter allowance for fillies and mares.
The victory was the fourth in a row for the California-bred, whose only defeat came in her career debut Jan. 5. Before being claimed by her current connections, Faith Proof, who is out of the Spend a Buck mare Crowning Faith, had won twice over the Polytrack at Del Mar for trainers Doug O’Neill and Tim Yakteen.
Breaking from the inside Thursday under jockey Tyler Baze, who has been aboard for three of her wins, Faith Proof quickly established command, repelled a mild challenge from Awe’ Some Kitten, then drew away to prevail by 4 ¼ lengths. She completed the six furlongs in 1:09.39 and returned $3, $2.20 and $2.10 as the 1-2 favorite.
Owned by Dan Agnew, William Branch and John Xitco, Faith Proof has earned $65,170.
Making her first start since being claimed for $10,000 by trainer Mike Machowsky Oct. 26, Rosewhitenblue rallied for second, finishing 2 ½ lengths in front of Awe’ Some Kitten. She paid $2.80 and $2.20 as the 5-2 second choice while the show price on Awe’ Some Kitten was $2.60. Warren’s Gussie and Handful of Pearls completed the order of finish.
With the win, Baze moved into a tie with Rafael Bejarano atop the jockey standings. With three days remaining in the Winter thoroughbred meet, Baze and Bejarano have eight victories apiece, leaving them two clear of Tiago Pereira.
Jockeys Martin Pedroza and Christian Aragon combined to win five races Thursday.
Pedroza’s triple included Mosso in the third, Accelerant in the fifth and Acute in the seventh while Aragon, a Peruvian native and recent arrival to Southern California, won twice for trainer Mike Harrington, taking the fourth with It’s Aine and the sixth with 21-1 outsider Swiss Silver.
In the trainer’s race, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert leads with six wins, two more than Glatt, Phil D’Amato and Robertino Diodoro.
Racing resumes Friday at Los Alamitos. Post time is 12:30 p.m.
Source: Los Alamitos Race Course