Kobe’s Back is Back in the San Vicente

Sunday, Santa Anita
SAN VICENTE S.-GII, $200,250, SAX, 2-16, 3yo, 7f, 1:21 4/5, ft. 
1–@KOBE’S BACK, 118, c, 3, by Flatter 
     1st Dam: Well, by Well Decorated 
     2nd Dam: Faith Tested Raye, by Runaway Groom 
     3rd Dam: Test of Faith, by Temperence Hill 
($60,000 yrl ’12 FTKOCT; $480,000 2yo ‘13 
OBSMAR). O-C R K Stable; B-Joanne R Mummert 
(KY); T-John W Sadler; J-Joel Rosario. $120,000. 
Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $200,250. *1/2 to Well 
Spelled (Spellbinder), GSW, $357,260. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Cherubim, 118, c, 3, Henny Hughes–Wings of an 
Angel, by Cherokee Run. ($2,500 wlng ’11 KEENOV; 
$22,000 yrl ’12 FTKOCT; $50,000 2yo ‘13 
OBSJUN). O-Gerald Frankel; B-Ward Williford & Rick 
Strauss (KY); T-Simon Callaghan. $40,000. 
3–Rprettyboyfloyd, 118, r, 3, Bluegrass Cat–El Bank 
Robber, by Eltish. ($16,000 yrl ’12 KEESEP; $32,000 
RNA 2yo ‘13 BESMAY). O-Karl Pergola; B-Jeff Amling 
& Bluegrass Farm Partners (KY); T-Denise E Breuer. 
$24,000. 
Margins: 5 1/4, 1, HF. Odds: 1.70, 1.70, 6.50. 
Also Ran: Papa Turf, Roger Rocket, Grazen’s Hope. 
Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
 CRK Stable’s Kobe’s Back (Flatter) proved just that winning yesterday’s GII San Vicente S. in style after a recent 10th place effort in the GI CashCall Futurity. The gray was away well from the outside of six posts and settled in three wide at the back of the pack while Cherubim (Henny Hughes) and Papa Turf (Yes It’s True) battled through fractions of :22.73 and :45.00. Kobe’s Back angled out another path on the turn and began to quickly pass rivals. He reeled in Cherubim with a sixteenth to go and opened up to win easily under a hand ride. Kobe’s Back becomes Lee and Susan Searing’s second GI Kentucky Derby contender. They also own Candy Boy (Candy Ride {Arg}), who won last weekend’s GII Robert B. Lewis S. 
    “I don’t think we have favorites,” Lee Searing said after the race. “We bred Candy Boy and this horse was just asking to be bought. We buy a lot of 2-year-olds but this was a special horse.” 
“He can go two turns,” Searing continued. “Even on the gallop out he just looks like it. Maybe now, with that sitting-back, stalking style, he’ll be ready to go two turns. We’ll let [trainer] John [Sadler] decide where he runs next, but we’re sure not going to race him and Candy Boy against one another.”  
    “I just wanted Joel [Rosario] to ride him patiently, because everybody has us kind of counted out of the route races, except us,” winning trainer John Sadler commented. “I wanted him off the pace a little bit and see if he’d finish up good so we could get him going around two turns next time.” As for the gray’s next start, Sadler explained, “We catch a little bit of an odd flow. We’re a little bit too quick for the [GII] San Felipe [Mar. 8], so we’ll probably go with [stablemate] Kristo (Distorted Humor) in that one and this horse we’ll look at maybe the [GII] Rebel [S. at Oaklawn Park Mar. 15]. We’ll look around. There are a lot of 3-year-old races, but we wanted to get a good one at home in good weather first, then we’re going to look at a race with [Kentucky Derby] points for him in the next one.”