'TDN Rising Star' Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) and Gunmetal Gray (Exchange Rate) figure to vie for favoritism in Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita.
The former, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, followed a front-running win in the seven-furlong GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar Nov. 17 with a distant runner-up finish to unbeaten stablemate Improbable (City Zip) in his two-turn debut in the GI Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity last time Dec. 8.
Baffert won this race three out of four times between 2013-16, most recently delivering with Mor Spirit for Mucho Gusto's owner Michael Petersen. Baffert has won the Lewis a total of six times.
Gunmetal Gray, runner-up behind champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI American Pharoah S. over this track and trip Sept. 29, followed a fifth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a flashy last-to-first win in the GIII Sham S. here Jan. 5.
The highly regarded Nolo Contesto (Pioneerof the Nile) heads to the big leagues after posting a hard-fought maiden victory with a wide trip in his two-turn debut Jan. 4.
The Lewis winner will receive 10 GI Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with the second, third and fourth-place finishers receiving four, two and one point(s), respectively.
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