Tapalo earns his first stakes win in the Lazaro Barrera (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.— Tapalo made short work of his rivals Sunday when breaking in front and then rolling to a seven-length victory in Sunday’s $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs dirt.
Ridden by Hector Berrios, Tapalo crossed the wire in 1:21.86 to earn his first stakes victory for trainer John Sadler. Ball Don’t Lie, the 2-5 favorite who was facing winners for the first time, tracked Tapalo into the turn but proved no match for the impressive winner in the final quarter mile.
“The break was perfect and he was travelling comfortably,” Berrios said of the winner, who set fractions of 22.69, 45.02 and 1:09.12.
With no show wagering, Tapalo paid $ 9.40 and $3.00 as the slight second choice. Ball Don’t Lie, who was ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer Mark Glatt, returned $2.10 to place.
Finishing 5 ½ lengths back of Ball Don’t Lie in third was Tessuto (8-1), who was ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer George Papaprodromou. Heart Headed (3-1), also owned by Hronis Racing and trained by Sadler, finished a nose back of Tessuto in fourth.
Tapalo was cutting back to a sprint after a fifth-place finish in the GI Santa Anita Derby April 7. In the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby, Tapalo set the pace after a poor break and faded in the stretch.
“He got eliminated in the Santa Anita Derby and I was thinking about giving him a little more time, but he had such a good work last weekend,” Sadler noted. “I said, ‘He’s ready to go back.’ I thought this was a good distance for him. Anywhere from seven to a mile, a mile and an eighth might be okay.”
Tapalo broke his maiden going seven furlongs on Jan. 12 at Santa Anita. Sandwiched between that and the Santa Anita Derby was a runner-up finish in the 1 1/8-mile El Camino Real Derby on synthetic at Golden Gate Fields May 12.
Tapalo was a $55,000 auction purchase at last year’s OBS March Sale of 2-year-olds in training. He is now 7: 2-2-1 with the $60,000 winner’s share of the purse pushing his earnings to $137,020.
Live racing at Santa Anita resumes Friday with an eight-race card starting at 1 p.m. PT.
