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Mo Forza, Ebeko win Santa Anita stakes races

Santa Anita Park had three stakes races the weekend of Oct. 2-4, and San Luis Rey Training Center colts trained by Peter Miller won two of them.

Mo Forza won the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile Stakes which was held Oct. 3. Ebeko finished first in the Oct. 4 Zuma Beach Stakes. Both races were 1 mile on Santa Anita's turf course. Both horses entered the stretch in fourth place before taking the lead during the stretch.

The City of Hope Mile Stakes is for horses 3 years old and up. Mo Forza was ridden by Flavien Prat.

Prat and Mo Forza broke sixth among the seven entries in the race. Bob and Jackie, who is trained by Richard Baltas and was at San Luis Rey earlier this year, broke first. Blitzkrieg, who is trained by Doug O'Neill and was stabled at San Luis Rey last year, broke second.

The first half mile took Blitzkrieg 45.61 seconds, and he still led Bob and Jackie by a length while Bob and Jackie increased his length over Sharp Samurai to a full-length. Restrainedvengence had a two-length lead over Mo Forza, who trailed Blitzkrieg by 4 1/2 lengths at that point.

Blitzkrieg entered the stretch 1:20.53 into the race and led Bob and Jackie by one length. Bob and Jackie was a head in front of Sharp Samurai. Mo Forza had moved into fourth before the beginning of the stretch and trailed Sharp Samurai by half a length and Blitzkrieg by 1 1/2 lengths.

Mo Forza overtook the three horses ahead of him and crossed the finish line 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Sharp Samurai, who finished second. Bob and Jackie was third, 1 1/4 lengths in back of Sharp Samurai and a head in front of fourth-place Blitzkrieg. The winning time for Mo Forza was 1:32.09, which was 4/10 of a second off the track record of 1:31.69.

Including starter bonuses, the City of Hope Mile Stakes total purse was $201,000. First place provided $120,000, and that amount increased Mo Forza's career earnings to $734,460.

Mo Forza was foaled in Kentucky April 5, 2016. He was sired by Uncle Mo out of Inflamed. He made his racing debut at Santa Anita Park in June 2019, and his first victory was at Santa Anita in November 2019. He followed that with three more wins, all in stakes races, before finishing ninth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes.

Mo Forza returned to victory Aug. 22 by winning the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile stakes race at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. He finished 4 1/4 lengths in front of Restrainedvengence, who took second.

The Zuma Beach Stakes is for 2-year-olds. Ebeko, who was ridden by Ricardo Gonzalez, broke third among the seven horses in the race. Ingest, who is trained by O'Neill and was at San Luis Rey earlier this year, broke first.

Ingest required 23.66 seconds to travel the first quarter of a mile and held a half-length lead over Tarantino. Ebeko was in third, a length in back of Tarantino and a head in front of fourth-place Cotopaxi.

The order of the horses was unchanged after the completion of the first half mile. Cotopaxi moved into second during the next two furlongs, and after three-quarters of a mile Tarantino was in third and Ebeko was the fourth-place horse.

At the start of the stretch, Cotopaxi was in the lead, having reached that point in 1:24.92, while Ingest had dropped to third. Tarantino was in second, half a length behind Cotopaxi and a head in front of Ingest. Ebeko trailed Ingest by half a length and Cotopaxi by a length while holding a half-length lead over fifth-place Caisson.

Ebeko beat Tarantino by a nose to win the race in 1:36.05 while Tarantino was three-quarters of a length in front of third-place Cotopaxi. Ingest was sixth.

The total value of the race including starter bonuses was $101,000, and $60,000 of that was given for first place. Ebeko has earned $106,430 in his five career races.

Ebeko was foaled in Ireland April 7, 2018. He was sired by Awtaad out of Allegrezza. He began his racing career this year with three races in Ireland, winning one of those, before making his United States debut Sept. 7 at Del Mar and finishing second in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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