Play Chicken wins King Glorious Stakes

Play Chicken, who trained at the San Luis Rey Training Center this summer before trainer Doug O'Neill brought him to the Santa Anita Park and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club stables for meets on those tracks, won the Dec. 20 King Glorious Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course.

"It was just a wonderful effort for the homebred," O'Neill said.

Play Chicken was sired by Square Eddie, who stands at Ocean Breeze Ranch in Bonsall, out of Smoove and was foaled Feb. 9, 2018. Play Chicken was raised and broken at Ocean Breeze Ranch.

"I thank the whole crew at Ocean Breeze who raised him and broke him," O'Neill said.

The King Glorious Stakes was a one-mile dirt contest for California-bred 2-year-olds. Play Chicken and jockey Mario Gutierrez won the race in 1:38.10 and finished a neck ahead of second-place Moving Fast.

"I'm very proud of him," O'Neill said.

Gutierrez had been Play Chicken's jockey in the colt's two previous races, so O'Neill didn't need to provide Gutierrez with pre-race instructions.

"We kind of left it up to him," O'Neill said. "He had worked Play Chicken more than a few times and he had the confidence in him."

The race included 10 horses. Gutierrez and Play Chicken broke first. Good With People, a San Luis Rey colt trained by Peter Miller and ridden by Ricardo Gonzalez in the King Glorious Stakes, was the second horse out of the gate.

Play Chicken then fell back.

"That's just Mario's feeling the pace was too fast early," O'Neill said.

Mister Bold moved into the lead and completed the first quarter of a mile in 23.01 seconds. At that point, Mister Bold held a 1 1/2-length lead over Good With People, who was in second and a length in front of Tacoflavoredkisses. Play Chicken was fourth, trailing Tacoflavoredkisses by half a length and Mister Bold by three lengths while leading fifth-place Ascot Storm by half a length.

Half a mile into the race Mister Bold, who reached that distance in 47.01 seconds, held the lead and was a length in front of Good With People. Play Chicken had moved into third, a length in back of Good With People and a head in front of fourth-place Tacoflavoredkisses.

Good With People overtook Mr. Bold during the next two furlongs, and with three-quarters of a mile elapsed Good With People was a head in front of Mr. Bold. That portion of the race took Good With People 1:11.87. Good With People led Play Chicken by a length. Club Cal had moved into fourth and trailed Play Chicken by one length.

Play Chicken entered the stretch in first place 1:24.62 after the race began. He had a half-length lead over Good With People, who led third-place Club Cal by 1 1/2 lengths. Moving Fast was fourth entering the stretch, half a length behind Club Cal and a head in front of fifth-place Mister Bold.

"Mario did a good job the way he navigated and the way the race unfolded," O'Neill said.

Good With People fell back in the stretch and finished fifth. He crossed the finish line a nose behind Mister Bold, who had won his two previous races, and a neck in front of sixth-place Tacoflavoredkisses. The margin between Play Chicken and Good With People was only 1 1/4 lengths, as Moving Fast finished half a length ahead of Club Cal and Mister Bold was half a length in back of Club Cal.

Play Chicken finished fifth in the Nov. 7 Golden State Juvenile Stakes at Del Mar. Good With People won that seven-furlong dirt race, Positivity was second and Ascot Storm finished third. Play Chicken thus not only won the King Glorious Stakes but beat two of the horses who finished ahead of him, Nov. 7.

"He just really mentally matured from his previous race," O'Neill said.

Positivity was entered in the King Glorious Stakes but was scratched by the stewards. Ascot Storm finished eighth, 13 1/2 lengths in back of Play Chicken.

Play Chicken first raced Oct. 17, at Santa Anita and won the one-mile turf face by a length.

The Los Alamitos fall meet began Dec. 5 and concluded Dec. 20. Play Chicken gave San Luis Rey horses two stakes wins during the meet; on Dec. 6, Proud Emma, a 4-year-old filly trained by Miller, won the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes.

The King Glorious Stakes had a $100,000 total purse including a $55,000 share for first place. Play Chicken now has $94,000 of career earnings.

"Hopefully it's the first of many stakes races and wins for Play Chicken," O'Neill said.

O'Neill expects Play Chicken to make his debut as a 3-year-old Jan. 16, at Santa Anita in the 1 1/16-mile California Cup Derby stakes race for 3-year-old California-bred horses.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].