Top Contenders for the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park

by Patricia Woo | Dec 20 2010

Excitement is building for the winter/spring season at Santa Anita Park, which will officially open on Sunday, Dec. 26. And the $250,000 Gr. 1 Malibu Stakes – a 7-furlong test for 3-year-olds – will be one of the races run on its newly laid dirt track on opening day. Top contenders Twirling Candy, Caracortado and Alcindor are among the expected.

Trained by John Sadler for the Craig Family Trust, Twirling Candy is looking to bounce back from a disappointing Gr. 1 Goodwood Stakes on Oct. 2 that led to him passing on the Breeders' Cup World Championships. He finished fourth in that race – a disappointing result after four straight wins, including the Gr. 2 Del Mar Derby at Del Mar on Sept. 5 and the Oceanside Stakes over the same track in July. Twirling Candy will be tackling dirt for the first time but he has been training well over Santa Anita's newly installed surface; on Dec. 16, he went 6 furlongs in 1:10.80. The son of Candy Ride will have familiar jockey Joel Rosario in the irons on Sunday and will look to add to his $288,300 in 2010 earnings.

Also looking to regain his winning form is Caracortado, a gelded son of Cat Dreams who was prominent during Triple Crown season but had a disappointing end result. Trained by Michael Machowsky, Caracortado made waves with a string of wins as a 2-year-old that carried over to his 3-year-old campaign. He began his year at Santa Anita Park with a victory in the Gr. 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 13 and followed that with a third-place finish in the Gr. 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 13. Losses then followed, starting with a fourth-place performance in the Gr. 1 Santa Anita Derby in April and then an off-the-board finish in the Gr. 1 Preakness Stakes in May. A six-month layoff seems to have had the desired effect, however: Caracortado scored an exciting turf victory in an allowance optional claimer at Hollywood Park on Nov. 11 and has been in training at Santa Anita Park. He went 7 furlongs in 1:23.00 on Dec. 12 in preparation.  Joe Talamo, aboard for that victory, will get the call on Sunday. Caracortado has a 2010 record of 5-2-0-1 and $187,320 in earnings.

Trying graded stakes company for the first time is Alcindor, a Bob Baffert-trained son of Unbridled's Song. Alcindor won an allowance race at Hollywood Park last out on Nov. 28 by 7 ¼ lengths, demonstrating good early speed. His only previous race was his maiden-breaking effort also at Hollywood Park, bringing his 2010 earnings to $46,800. He worked 6 furlongs at Santa Anita Park in 1:12.20 on Dec. 16; Rafael Bejarano will be aboard for Sunday's race.

Also expected for the Malibu Stakes are Noble's Promise (ridden by Julien Leparoux), Setsuko (Alex Solis) and Thomas Baines (Martin Pedroza).

Who will win the 2010 Malibu Stakes? Bet on Bodog's Race of the Week!