From Santa Anita Publicity
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 18, 2014)–Heavily favored Boozer made an easy lead and never looked back en route to a 2 ½ length win in Saturday’s $100,000 California Flag Handicap for Golden State Series eligibles at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, he got 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course in 1:12.36 following moderate fractions of 22.89, 45.16 and 1:06.74.
Boozer is by Unusual Heat, out of the Cape Canaveral mare Kitty and Boo, was bred by Abrams, Loverso, Perez, Huston Racing and Auerbach, is owned by Al and Saundra Kirkwood and trained by Mark Glatt.
He has five wins in 12 starts, earnings of $292,672 and was coming off an Aug. 31 allowance win.
“I didn’t expect to get the lead too easy,” said Bejarano. “I thought Super Ability (ridden by Martin Garcia) would go straight to the lead but he broke a little slow, so I took us straight to the front and was able to sit comfortably. I didn’t have any pressure and from there it was pretty much over…Today, he ran really well.”
Off at 3-5 in a field of four California-bred or sired runners aged three and up, Boozer paid $3.40 and $2.20. (Due to a pair of late scratches, there was no show wagering).
“He’s a very good horse,” said Glatt. “He got a very easy lead but he did his job. He’s a versatile horse. He runs good down the hill and he won very impressively going a mile and a sixteenth (twice at Del Mar), not against stakes horses yet, but he’s very effective…We’ll obviously keep him on the grass. We’ll nominate to several stakes and try to pick the spot that might look like the best one.”
Idle since April 26, Tamarando, ridden by Mike Smith, sat closer to the pace than many expected and fought off a determined challenge from Super Ability to finish second by a half length. Off at 5-2, he paid $2.80 to place.
“I was a little surprised I was sitting second, but this horse hasn’t run in a long time and I warmed him up by himself,” said Smith. “I took him back and forth a few times across the dirt and he was pretty fresh. I tell you what, he’ll come out of this race and run big next time.”
For Boozer’s pedigree, click http://www.pedigreequery.com/boozer3.