STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2023

- • VAZQUEZ HEATS UP FOR KENTUCKY DERBY WITH 4-WIN SATURDAY - • JOCKEY ANTONIO FRESU WINS 1ST RACE IN NORTH AMERICA - • D’AMATO WINS 3 STAKES SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA, GOLDEN GATE - • TRAINER MATT WILLIAMS GETS 1ST WIN AT SANT ANITA - • SOON TO BE HALL OF FAMER NAKATANI WILL BE HONORED MAY 5 - • SANTA ANITA WILL HOST KENTUCKY DERBY WATCH PARTY

VAZQUEZ HEATS UP FOR KENTUCKY DERBY WITH 4-WIN SATURDAY Seven days before his ride in the 149th Kentucky Derby aboard GI Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move, jockey Ramon Vazquez got things heated up at The Great Race Place with a four-win Saturday.

In the first half of Santa Anita’s 12-race card, Vazquez won the first 2-year-old race of the season aboard Turf Paradise shipper Stealthespotlight ($19.50) in the second race for trainer Matt Williams. He added a win in the sixth race for trainer Librado Barocio. on El Oro ($12.40)

Then for good measure, Vazquez swept the late daily double. He won the 11th race with Danzing Cat ($5.40) for trainer Peter Miller and then the nightcap aboard Carmen Miranda ($8.60) for trainer Phil D’Amato.

The flurry of wins moves Vazquez into second place in the Hollywood Meet jockey’s standings with six wins, three behind Juan Hernandez.

“Hopefully we can keep the momentum going,” Vazquez’s agent, Bill Castle, said Sunday from Clocker’s Corner.

Vazquez has four mounts on Sunday’s card at Santa Anita including two favorites. He rides 7-5 favorite Issa Court in the second race, Mici’s Express (4-1) in the third, 9-5 favorite Yellow Brick in the fifth and La Peer (4-1) in the 10th.

After his duties today at Santa Anita are complete, Vazquez will prepare for his trip to Churchill Downs. He is scheduled to fly to Kentucky on Monday and then ride every day at Churchill Downs starting on Tuesday. He has seven mounts booked already through Thursday with Friday’s Kentucky Oaks card and Saturday’s Kentucky Derby program still to be drawn on Monday. In the Kentucky Oaks, Vazquez has the call on Southern California-based And Tell Me Nolies for trainer Peter Miller.

“I’m hoping for a good experience in Kentucky. Just to enjoy the moment and do the best I can,” Vazquez said on Friday.

Practical Move will be only the second Kentucky Derby mount for Vazquez and first in eight years. In 2015, Vazquez rode longshot Mr. Z for trainer D. Wayne Lukas to a 13th-place finish behind eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

In that year’s 1 1/4-mile classic, which had a field of 18, Mr. Z bobbled slightly at the break and then had to check repeatedly when trying to gain position the first time past the wire. They eventually found themselves mid-pack in eighth, chasing the pace while four to five wide down the backstretch. On the second turn, Mr. Z started to retreat, eventually beating five horses to the wire at 36-1.

Vazquez described the ride aboard Mr. Z as a learning experience.

“What I learned is you have to have good position at the beginning of race,” said the 37-year-old native of Puerto Rico. “I just want to work out a good trip this time, get a good position. Then we’ll see what happens.”

Vazquez has never been beaten aboard Practical Move. Since taking over in the irons, Vazquez and Practical Move have teamed to win the GII Los Alamitos Futurity in December, the GII San Felipe here on March 4 and then the April 8 Santa Anita Derby by a desperate nose.

“I love this horse because he lets me do my job,” Vazquez said. “Whatever I ask him to do, he’ll do it.”

Following the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby, some have questioned the ability of Practical Move to get the taxing 1 ¼-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby. Vazquez is not in that camp.

“Not really. I don’t think that distance will bother him at all,” he said. “He’s just a good horse and his trainer, Tim Yakteen, has just done an amazing job. He should be 100 percent fit now after that.”

As for Vazquez’s Kentucky Oaks contender, And Tell Me Nolies, he has been aboard for all seven of her starts. They teamed to win last year’s GI Del Mar Debutante and GII Chandelier before an eight-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. In two starts this year, both at Santa Anita, they were second to Faiza in both the GIII Santa Ysabel on March 5 and GII Santa Anita Oaks April 8.

“She’s a nice filly and we have a shot,” Vazquez said.

With Practical Move and And Tell Me Nolies, Vazquez will attempt to become just the eighth jockey to win the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks in the same season. The last to officially do so was Calvin Borel in 2009 with Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra. John Velazquez also crossed the wire first in both races in 2021, but the Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit was eventually disqualified months later due to a medication overage.

“It’s going to be a fun week in Kentucky,” Vazquez said.

JOCKEY ANTONIO FRESU WINS HIS 1ST RACE IN NORTH AMERICA AT SANTA ANITA Antonio Fresu, who has been a top jockey at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in recent years, rode his first winner in North America Saturday at Santa Anita.

In the seventh race, a $20,000 maiden claimer going six furlongs on dirt, Fresu won with 14-1 longshot Trusty Rusty for trainer Doug O’Neill. After breaking a step slow, Trusty Rusty steadily made-up ground down to be second behind only the pacesetting favorite, O’Neill stablemate Bluegrass Go Go. From there, the race quickly turned into a rout. Fresu and Trusty Rusty powered through the stretch to extend their advantage and eventually win by seven lengths.

“It was great to get my first win at Santa Anita,” Fresu said Sunday morning. “I love it here. This place is beautiful.”

A 31-year-old native of the Italian island Sardinia, Fresu arrived in Southern California last Monday and had his first three rides on Friday. He is represented locally by agent Tom Knust. Fresu made the move to Santa Anita at the recommendation of O’Neill and his top assistant, Leandro Mora. O’Neill and Mora became acquainted with Fresu’s work when they had a stable at Meydan the past several winters.

“Antonio rode races and worked horses for them in Dubai,” Knust said. “They both thought he had a lot of talent and could do really well here.”

Fresu has just one mount on Sunday, which is also for O’Neill. He rides the 10th race, a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight on turf, aboard Unjokable. She is the 6-1 co-fourth choice in a field of 11.

Typically, Fresu rides in Italy after the Meydan meet. But he has no plans to leave Santa Anita any time soon.

“I only bought a one-way ticket,” he noted.

D’AMATO WINS A COMBINED 3 STAKES SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA, GOLDEN GATE It was a lucrative Saturday for Phil D’Amato. The 47-year-old trainer won the GIII Providencia early on the card at Santa Anita with second-choice Paris Secret, then added two more stakes wins at Golden Gate where the Bay Area track is hosting its “Gold Rush” weekend.

At Golden Gate, D’Amato teamed with jockey Umberto Rispoli to win a par of photo finishes. Rispoli, who won three stakes in all, piloted Balnikhov ($4.80) to a nose win in the GIII San Francisco Mile and Alice Marble ($4.60) to a head victory in the Camilia Urso Stakes going five furlongs on turf.

For good measure, D’Amato added a fourth win on the day when Carmen Miranda ($8.60) won the nightcap at Santa Anita.

“It was a great day,” D’Amato said Sunday. “We had the whole team on point and the horses were ready to go.”

D’Amato added that all of Saturday’s winners exited their races in good order.

On Sunday, D’Amato will try and add a second stakes win at Santa Anita’s Hollywood Meet with Macadamia in the GIII Wilshire at a mile on turf. D’Amato had also entered Rhea Moon, but she was scratched Sunday morning. He said Rhea Moon suffered a “superficial cut on the side of a hock” while in her stall.

“It’s in kind of a sensitive spot,” D’Amato added. “I’m sure in a day or two she’ll be fine. We’ll just regroup and point to the Gamely.”

The Grade I Gamely Stakes, for fillies and mares at 1 1/8-miles on turf, is scheduled for May 29.

FINISH LINES: Trainer Matt Williams won his first race at Santa Anita Saturday with Turf Paradise shipper Stealthespotlight, who scored in the first 2-year-old race of the season and paid $19.60…Brickyard Ride had his first work since winning the GIII Kona Gold when drilling five furlongs this morning in 1:00.00… Recently minted Hall of Fame jockey Corey Nakatani will be honored at Santa Anita with the Corey Nakatani Hall of Fame Purse on Kentucky Oaks Day, Friday, May 5…Racing action next week at Santa Anita includes the GIII Senorita for 3-year-old fillies on the hillside turf course and Lazaro Barrera for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on Kentucky Derby day. On Sunday, Santa Anita will host the Singletary Stakes for 3-year-olds going a mile on turf… There is a Rainbow 6 Jackpot carryover of $215,039.86 entering Sunday’s card…Santa Anita will host a Kentucky Derby Trackside Watch Party Saturday May 6. For $55, fans will receive a Practical Move Santa Anita Derby Winner T-Shirt, beverage of your choice which includes Mint Juleps, a reserved picnic table seat, admission and parking, program and tip sheet plus a $5 betting voucher…ADMISSION GATES WILL OPEN ON FRIDAY AND KENTUCKY DERBY DAY, SATURDAY AT 7:15 A.M. FIRST LIVE RACE POST TIME ON FRIDAY IS AT 1 P.M. AND ON DERBY DAY, FIRST POST IS 12:30 P.M.