No Blinkers, Creative Cause 6 to 5 favourite ahead of the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita
There were no surprises when the Kentucky bred Giant’s Causeway’s colt, Creative Cause, was installed as the 6 to 5 favourite for the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, and on top of that the Mike Harrington trained colt got the rail for the 1 1/8 mile
event on dirt set to go underway at Santa Anita Park on 7 April, 2012.
Heinz Steinmann’s Creative Cause is exiting a victory in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, and in the Santa Anita Derby he will face the third place finisher of the San Felipe, Midnight Transfer, and the 4th place finisher Liaison. A total of 10,
3-year-old colts and geldings will vie for the most important prep race for the next months Run for the Roses.
The Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner, I’ll Have Another, will be looking to cap off the Kentucky Derby prep race session with a massive win in the Santa Anita Derby, and along with him the fast developing, Holy Candy, after his maiden win at Santa Anita
will hope to turn some heads, but he might be scratched from the race, said trainer John Sadler, who is favouring a start for his young colt in the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on 14 April.
Out of mare Dream of Summer by Siberian Summer, Creative Cause has never gone without blinkers in his seven career starts, but Harrington is going to send his Kentucky Derby leading contender without blinkers in the Santa Anita Derby.
"His workout was good," Harrington said. "He's training nicely without them, so we're going to run without blinkers. In his races, he gets to wandering around the stretch. He's never been really focused down the stretch, except for the Norfolk Stakes (gr.
I). Even the Breeders' Cup, he started wandering around. We wanted to find out (if no blinkers) would make a difference, and not wait until the Kentucky Derby to try it."
Creative Cause has been working at track recently without the hood, and recently the gray colt turned in a work in which he breezed half a mile in 48 /25 seconds on 3 April, 2012.
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