ARCADIA, Calif.—An authoritative one-mile turf winner in his last two starts, Doug O’Neill’s Mackinnon comes back under the same conditions this Sunday as he heads a promising field of 10 two-year-olds in the $200,000 Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita.
Attentive to the pace in both of his one-mile races, Mackinnon broke his maiden by 1 ¾ lengths on July 31 at Del Mar and came back to win by the same margin in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Sept. 6. With a total of five Zuma Beach starters exiting the Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, Mackinnon, who was off as the 8-5 favorite among a field of nine, merits top billing on Sunday.
Although he hopped at the break, Thirty Four Coupe was quickly into stride and gave way grudgingly late after showing the way inside the sixteenth pole in the Juvenile Turf. Off at 25-1, he gave a solid account of himself following a fourth-place finish going a mile on dirt Aug. 19. Trained by George Papaprodromou and owned by Santa Anita’s Chief Operating Officer, Racing Operations, Aidan Butler, Thirty Four Coupe gave a solid account of himself in the Juvenile Turf, finishing second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths.
Trained by Phil D’Amato, English-bred Silver Surfer made his U.S. debut in Del Mar’s Juvenile Turf and responded with a big third place finish at 4-1. Mid-pack around the far turn, Silver Surfer had to wait for racing room in deep stretch while beaten 1 ¾ lengths. Owned by Sierra Racing and Sterling Stables, LLC, look for marked improvement in what will be his seventh career start.
The $200,000 Zuma Beach with jockeys & weights in post position order
Race 8 of 10, Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT
1. Thirty Four Coupe—Mike Smith—118
2. Law Abiding—Umberto Rispoli—118
3. Picota—John Velazquez—118
4. Mackinnon—Juan Hernandez—122
5. Silver Surfer—Flavien Prat—118
6. Aquitania Arrival—Abel Cedillo—118
7. La Deuxieme Etoile—Mario Gutierrez—115
8. II Capitano—Kent Desormeaux—120
9. Carbonite—Edwin Maldonado—118
10. Birth of Cool—Drayden Van Dyke—118
The Zuma Beach is one of five stakes on a 10 race card Sunday with first post time at 1 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.
For info on the Best Breeders’ Cup Seminar click HERE.
Mike Willman/Santa Anita Press Office
Photo: After breaking his maiden at Del Mar on July 31, Mackinnon came back to win his first stakes, the Del Mar Juvenile Turf on September 6 with Juan Hernandez up. (Benoit Photos)
