STRAIGHT NO CHASER SIZZLES TO 6 ¼-LENGTH VICTORY IN SUNDAY’S GII, $200,000 SANTA ANITA SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP

ARCADIA, CA (Sept. 29, 2024)—Straight No Chaser and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez rolled to a dominant front-running victory in Sunday’s GII, $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship going six furlongs at Santa Anita.

Trained by Dan Blacker, Straight No Chaser (3-2) was quickest out of the gate and proceeded to set fractions of 21.83 and 44.28 seconds for the opening half mile. Once he reached the stretch, Straight No Chaser burst away from the field and crossed the wire in 1:08.54 to win by 6 ¼ lengths. Roll On Big Joe (21-1) with Umberto Rispoli up finished a distant second with See Through It (13-1), ridden by Tiago Pereira, rounding out the trifecta.

“He was ready from the start,” Velazquez said. “If he breaks good, and loose reins, that’s what he likes. He relaxes until somebody gets next to him…I just had to put my hands down and let him do what he needs to do.

Fort Bragg, who was coming off a 10-month layoff, went off with $414 more in the win pool than Straight No Chaser to be the slight favorite. He made a three-wide bid on the turn under Juan Hernandez but flattened out in the stretch to finish fourth.

Owned by My Racehorse, Straight No Chaser improved to 9: 5-0-1 with$376,300 in earnings. In his only previous start this year in May, the 4-year-old Speightster horse stumbled at the break in the GIII Runhappy going six furlongs at Aqueduct and finished fourth. His only previous stakes win came in last year’s GIII Maryland Sprint at Pimlico on the Preakness Stakes undercard.

“They were running,” Blacker said. “He broke really quick today and when I saw him going into the turn, how easy he was going and we were in the right spot, I felt pretty confident.”

Straight No Chaser paid $5.00, $3.60 and $3.00. Roll On Big Joe, trained by Robert Hess Jr., returned $10.80 and $6.20. See Through It, trained by Genaro Vallejo, paid $5.00.