SAN MARCOS AND SAN ANTONIO STAKES RACE AND LINER NOTES

VAGABOND SHOES RALLIES TO WIN GRADE II SAN MARCOS STAKES; IRISH-BRED, IDLE SINCE BREEDERS’ CUP, IS BET TO 5-2 FAVORITE IN 11-HORSE FIELD


Mid-pack past the half mile pole, the John Sadler-trained Vagabond Shoes was caught six wide turning for home and finished resolutely as the 5-2 favorite, winning Saturday’s Grade II, $200,000 San Marcos Stakes by a 1 ¼ lengths under Victor Espinoza, while covering 1 ¼ miles on turf in 1:58.88.

BLINGO BENEFITS FROM TORRID PACE DUEL AND TAKES GRADE II SAN ANTONIO UNDER GRYDER, FAVORED GAME ON DUDE OFF BOARD


With a hot pace to shoot at, longshot Blingo, with Aaron Gryder aboard, wheeled four-deep turning for home and out-gamed fellow longshot Imperative inside the sixteenth pole to take Saturday’s Grade II, $300,000 San Antonio Stakes by a half length, covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.95.


SAN ANTONIO STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES


AARON GRYDER, BLINGO, WINNER: “I’m very happy with this race and how (Blingo) positioned himself. I’ve ridden (second-place finisher) Imperative before and he ran one hell of a race today but my horse just kept digging.
“I was hoping for a hot pace today and I was real happy with first eighth of a mile. By the time we had gone three-sixteenths I could tell we had established a fast pace and I just wanted my horse to settle. I didn’t care if that made us third, or second, or gave us the win. I just knew the only chance we would have would be if he settled.

SAN MARCOS STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES


VICTOR ESPINOZA, VAGABOND SHOES, WINNER: “Today I wanted to ride smart, sit back and save ground on the first turn. I just wanted to find my way around and it set up well for me. I wanted to control the race and about 300 yards out of the gate I knew I had an excellent position. I was in control of the inside and outside and horses in front of me so I felt I was in good shape.

ROBERT B. LEWIS STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES

GARY STEVENS, CANDY BOY, WINNER: “For a big horse he has a lot of acceleration and confidence on the turn. I was closer than I thought we were going to be today. He’s grown a lot lately, he’s grown but he’s also grown (mentally), too. I’ve been up for his last five works and we haven’t really squeezed the trigger yet. The gallop-out was huge today and I was already thinking about the Santa Anita Derby as we were galloping out around the turn. It was a lot of fun and he didn’t even take a deep breath after the race.
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