San Vicente Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
February 12, 2017

A field of six is set to go to post for the 14th running of the San Vicente Stakes, and you know who the writer will be rooting for!  This is a seven furlong event on the main track at SA as trainers who might be a little hesitant to have their entry join the longer distances of the TC chase, but don’t want to sprint either; and are hoping to get a jolt of confidence here to move them forward.  Well, I can tell you one trainer thinks that way, anyway.  As is usually the case in the rare instances I have an entry in a race I cover, I need to check myself before saying something that could compromise my chances, so the preview could feel a little stale.

#1- Sonar (Mb Stables, ridden by M E Smith)- On the rail, we have one of two runners that Mb Stables has in the field and he has had a near perfect career to this point. He has hit the track five times, winning four, and in the race he didn’t win he had his picture taken with the winner.  That race was also his lone race at the graded level, coming at the Hope Stakes in DMR at this exact distance.  He lost to stablemate Had No Idea that day, and will look to get bragging rights back on that one in this race.

#2- Sorry Sister (Sccj Stables, ridden by F Prat)- The colt by Z Jinxed One had a successful two year old season winning two of his seven races, but only failing to hit the board in one of them.  One of those wins came at the Big A last November as he won the $100.000 King Swan Stakes.  He would try the Runyon after that, and he did not seem to like going longer at all.  Cutting back to this distance should suit him well, but this will be the biggest challenge he has faced in his young career.

#3- Had No Idea (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- Won the showdown with Sonar at the Hope Stakes over at DMR, and that Grade 3 gives him the distinction of being the only graded winner in this field.  Unfortunately for the trainer, he was unable to follow that up in the Grade 3 Hutcheson down at GP last month, placing 4th in a dead heat. It would be the first time in his four starts that he did not visit the winner’s circle after a race.   The field here is pretty similar, though smaller, then what he had at GP, making this a good spot to rebound.  I’m leaning towards Sonar though between the two Mb runners.

#4- Skeleton Crew (Big Guns Stables, ridden by Mar Garcia)- While he can’t say that he is a graded winner, Skeleton Crew probably has the best bragging rights of anyone right now in that he is a BC Juvenile runner.  Sure, he only ran 9th in that, but it was a win at this exact distance that propelled him to that race, when he was third in the DMR Futurity.  Recent runs have not gone his way, however, and this will be career start ten already for him.

#5- Flightwing Commander (Yahudi Stables, ridden by V Espinoza)- So far, this Caught Red Hoofed has won just one of seven starts, but his work times certainly point to him winning more often eventually.  He was quite a bargain for the trainer in private sales, just spending $10.000 on him in a transaction that a few trainers noticed when it happened.  Since then, Flightwing Commander’s career highlight is his second place finish in the $150.000 Clarendon Stakes for ON-breds on the same day Skeleton Crew was running in the BC Juvenile. Another thing those two have in common is that they both come into this on three weeks rest.

#6- Slither (Nynl Stables, ridden by K J Desormeaux)- Entered him into this race last week as I am some hesitations about the TC trail with him running over a mile, especially after Night Terra disappointed me last week.  Slither has never given me a bad race and always shows a tremendous amount of heart.  Put it all on the line last month running second in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes (dare I say, just like my 2016 KYD runner did who has done nothing since?), and while he fell to Mb’s Above The Law, I was encouraged by some of the ones he beat there.   In six races, Slither has never failed to be a part of the exacta, but this is a tough task.  So far, he has answered the call for me every time.

Prediction: 1-6-3-5

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES