Favored Sweet Swap Wins at Santa Anita
Favored Sweet Swap went to the front and never looked back in taking Friday’s $65,000 allowance feature by three quarters of a length under Joe Talamo. Trained by John Sadler, Sweet Swap carved out fractions of 22.29, 44.56 and 1:06.58 en route to a final time of 1:12.54 down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.
“I was glad to see him break well today,” said Talamo. “He has a tendency, even when he’s won, to break slow sometimes. Fortunately, he’s easy to ride. When he makes the lead, he puts his ears up and just idles which is real easy on the rider. I just let him do his own thing.”
Off at 6-5 in a field of seven older horses, Sweet Swap paid $4.60, $2.60 and $2.40. Owned by Hronis Racing, LLC, the 6-year-old Candy Ride horse picked up his fifth win from 12 tries down the unique hillside layout and improved his overall record to 17-7-3-3. With the winner’s share of $39,000, he increased his earnings to $390,529.
Third, beaten three quarters of a length after hopping at the break in in the restricted Clockers’ Corner Stakes down the hill Jan. 25, Sweet Swap had been the beaten favorite in his last three starts, but will now be pointed to a title defense in the Grade III San Simeon Stakes over the course on April 19.
“Yes, we’ll run next in the San Simeon,” said Sadler. “I’m really happy. This is the make-up race for the Joe Hernandez Stakes on Feb. 22, which got rained out. It was really nice that the Racing Office gave these horses a chance to run back.”
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux, U S Citizen sat second to the winner throughout and prevailed by 1 ¾ lengths as the runner-up over longshot County Lineman. The second choice in the wagering at 7-2, U S Citizen paid $3.60 and $3.20.
County Lineman, who was ridden by Rafael Bejarano, was next to last crossing the dirt at the top of the lane, wheeled five-wide turning for home and finished third, a half length in front of Si Sage. Off at 6-1, County Lineman paid $3.40 to show.
There was one winning ticket in Friday’s Pick Six, worth $46,920. The ticket was purchased through a wagering hub in Lewiston, Maine. The purchase price was unavailable at press time.
Source: Santa Anita Park