Private Gem. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.— Under patient handling from jockey Umberto Rispoli, Private Gem cut the corner turning for home and surged past odds-on favorite Book Smart in the stretch to earn his first stakes win in Saturday’s $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for horses bred or sired in California going six furlongs.
Trained by Mark Glatt, Private Gem (5-2) settled comfortably behind Book Smart and Tapatio Leo as that tandem dueled through sharp fractions of 21.69 and 44.51 seconds for a half mile. At the quarter pole, Private Gem took the inside route to collar the leaders and then kicked clear to win by 3 ½ lengths. Final Storm (11-1), who was far back in last down the backstretch, rallied to be second under Antonio Fresu with another 1 ¼ lengths back to Book Smart.
Private Gem won in a time of 1:09.71. He is now a perfect 3-for-3 since returning from a 15 ½-month layoff in late February. Both of his previous wins came sprinting on turf.
“I think he had a really nice set up,” Glatt said. “We were hoping that somebody would go with Book Smart because when he shakes loose on the lead, he is hard to beat. We got lucky they went fast…Umberto rode a perfect race”
Added Rispoli: “I thought we were in a good spot, no matter if someone went with Book Smart or not. He really responded on the turn. At the sixteenth pole, he started looking around, but he got back to business. He’s a pretty nice horse and Mark has done an amazing job with him going from grass to dirt.”
As for favorite Book Smart, jockey Mike Smith said “Too fast, way too fast.
“He puts a lot into his races, it kind of shows that on his form. Hard to put three or four of those in a row when you’re that fast. It is what it is. I thought I was going to make an easy lead.”
Private Gem is a 4-year-old colt by Lookin at Lucky. In two starts prior to the layoff in 2023, Private Gem won his debut sprinting on dirt at Santa Anita and came back to be narrowly beaten in the Golden State Juvenile at seven furlongs on dirt. He is now 5: 4-1-0 with $175,090 in earnings for owner Saints or Sinners.
Private Gem paid $7.00, $4.20 and $2.40. Final Storm, ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer Phil D’Amato, returned $7.20 and $3.00. Book Smart, trained by Bob Hess Jr., paid $2.10.
$100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes Quotes
Umberto Rispoli, Private Gem, Winner: “I thought we were in a good spot, no matter if someone went with Book Smart or not. He really responded on the turn. At the sixteenth pole, he started looking around, but he got back to business. He’s a pretty nice horse and Mark (Glatt) has done an amazing job with him going from grass to dirt. He was traveling really well on the turn and I was waiting to see what Mike (Smith) was going to do. Once the rail opened up, we took off.”
Mike Smith, Book Smart: “Too fast, way too fast. He puts a lot into his races, kind of shows that on his form. Hard to put three or four of those in a row when you’re that fast. It is what it is. Thought I was going to make an easy lead.”
Mark Glatt, Private Gem, Winner: “I think he had a really nice set up. We were hoping that somebody would go with Book Smart because when he shakes loose on the lead, he is hard to beat. We got lucky they went fast, and he had to unhook that Book Smart. Umberto (Rispoli) rode a perfect race, saved the ground and they floated off the turn a little to continue to save ground. I think he got to goofing around a little in the stretch, but he ran well.
“Anytime these Cal-Bred stakes come along it is nice to have a horse that is just as good on dual surfaces. After today I’m not so sure he isn’t better on the dirt, he runs well either way and is just a really hard trying horse and obviously has some talent to go along with it.”
