Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Havnameltdown set all the fractions and held stablemate and co-favorite Faustin at bay to the wire to win the GII San Vicente S. by 1 1 /2 lengths at Santa Anita Sunday. Off a tad awkwardly from his inside post, Havnameltdown recovered quickly to pull himself to the early lead and was in control after a quarter in :22.46, with longshot Man Child (Creative Cause), the lone non-Baffert runner in the four-horse field, in close attendance. The bay colt inched further clear entering the far turn as the half went up in :45.46. Faustin, making his first start since a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut at Santa Anita Dec. 26, loomed a threat nearing the stretch, but Havnameltdown scampered clear into the lane and maintained his advantage to the wire as his stablemate tried in vain to reel him in down the length of the stretch.
“I felt out of the gate with the first jump, he broke really fast and strong then after that I felt like I was just cruising,” said winning jockey Juan Hernandez. “He was having fun out there. He was kind of waiting for horses, I was doing the same thing, I was just waiting for him and waiting for the competition to get close to me so I could start making my horse run. At the three-eighths, I felt the pressure a little bit and I asked him and he responded really well. Turning for home he switched leads and he picked it up by himself.”
Havnameltdown will likely stay at one-turn distances, while Baffert is looking forward to stretching Faustin out.
“This horse is built for this distance that's him, one turn,” Baffert said of the winner. “He will stay one turn. Faustin, he was kind of a grinding slow, he wants to go longer, the other horse [Fort Warren] wants to go longer. You try to get outs into them so they'll learn and you'll figure [them out]. The other two are ready to go long.
“The problem is that if you break your maiden first time out, you have to run in stakes. It is that way all over the country. Just getting these races into them is important. Faustin, you can tell he is not there yet, once he goes two turns, you'll see a big difference in him. He wat trying to get there but he was running against a top-class sprinter.”
Havnameltdown was a $16,000 OBSOCT purchase by pinhooker Blas Perez, who resold the colt for $200,000 following a :9 4/5 work at last year's OBS April sale. The colt graduated on debut at Del Mar last July and added a win in the Aug. 14 GIII Best Pal S. in his second outing. He suffered his first loss when second behind stablemate Cave Rock (Arrogate) in the Sept. 11 GI Del Mar Futurity, but returned to the winner's circle with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 20 GIII Bob Hope S. last time out.
Pedigree Notes:
Havnameltdown is one of six graded winners for his sire Uncaptured. The Canadian champion 2-year-old, who began his stud career at Ocala Stud, relocated to South Korea for the 2020 breeding season.
The winner's dam, Ashley's Babe, in foal to Maximus Mischief, RNA'd for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. She has a 2-year-old Tapiture colt who RNA'd for $4,500 earlier this month at the Keeneland January sale.
Sunday, Santa Anita
SAN VICENTE S.-GII, $196,000, Santa Anita, 1-29, 3yo, 7f, 1:22.29, ft.
1–HAVNAMELTDOWN, 124, c, 3, by Uncaptured
1st Dam: Ashley's Babe, by Put It Back
2nd Dam: Charms Way, by Salt Lake
3rd Dam: Remember Midnight, by Cure the Blues
($16,000 Ylg '21 OBSOCT; $200,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman;
B-Katherine S Devall (FL); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 5-4-1-0, $408,000. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Faustin, 120, c, 3, Curlin–Hard Not to Like, by Hard Spun.
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($285,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $800,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Dattt Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $40,000.
3–Fort Warren, 120, c, 3, Curlin–La Appassionata,
by Bernardini. 'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE,
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($550,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP).
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert
Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber,
Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan; B-Stonestreet
Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $24,000.
Margins: 1HF, 8 3/4, 4 3/4. Odds: 1.00, 1.00, 4.90.
Also Ran: Man Child. Scratched: Gilmore.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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