Buddy Gil Bulls His Way To Victory In Wild San Felipe
By: John Gaver III

(Mar. 17, 2003) - The 3-year-old gelding Buddy Gil parlayed an impressive turf sprint win into an opportunity to run in Santa Anita's marquee event for sophomores - the Apr. 5 Santa Anita Derby (GI) - as the bay son of Eastern Echo bulled his way through dense traffic to win the 66th running of the San Felipe Stakes (GII) by a desperate nose over fast closing Atswhatimtalknbout on Mar. 16 at Santa Anita Park. The mile and a sixteenth race was contested over a main track rated "good" from excessive rain that pelted Southern California on Saturday, Mar. 15.

Late running Atswhatimtalknbout didn't get his mind on running until inside the eighth pole, but with the son of A.P. Indy did so, he took off and narrowly missed victory under jockey David Flores. The colt galloped out strongly, some 15-20 lengths ahead of the rest of the field.

"I thought he won, but it almost didn't matter because we know what we've got," said Flores. "He galloped out so strong I almost couldn't pull him up. He wants more distance. The more, the better. Gary [Stevens, rider of the victorious Buddy Gil] kidded me that my owners [including principals in the movie "Seabiscuit"] couldn't make the ending come out like they can in the movies. I think you'll see a different script in the Santa Anita Derby."

48-1 shot Brancusi, who ran a game race pressing the pace, was three-quarters of a length back in third, a length and a quarter to the good of 86-1 longshot Logician. Domestic Dispute, Siberland, Man Among Men, Ten Cents A Shine, Flirt with Fortune and Buckland Manor completed the official order of finish.

Buddy Gil, who was coming off an authoritative win in the Grade III Baldwin Stakes on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita, broke well under Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens, who settled the colt nicely and assumed a mid-pack stalking position from the race's outset.

Approaching the quarter-pole, Buddy Gil was blocked behind a wall of horses and Stevens couldn't find running room until inside the quarter pole. When the pair got clear, they set sail for the wire and had enough left in the tank to fend off Atswhatimtalknbout's furious late rush.

"If they leave us alone in the stretch, we win anyway," said Buddy Gil's trainer, Jeff Mullins, after the race. "This guy right here [Gary Stevens] made me confident. He had confidence, and when that guy's got confidence, we all got confidence.

" I asked him [Stevens] if he had a [race] plan and he says, 'I'm just going to let him do like he did last time.' I said, 'Well, I'm not going to do anything to mess it up.' The Santa Anita Derby is the next logical step.," Mujllins continued. "You've got to give the horse a chance to prove himself, and Gary's talking [Kentucky] Derby already, so…"

Sent off at 9-1, Buddy Gil returned $21.60, $7.20 and $5.20 and covered a mile and a sixteenth over a surface rated "good" in 1:43 3/5. The $150,000 winner's share of the San Felipe purse bolstered his career earnings to $279,455.

"I felt like I was on a 3-5 shot, not a 12-1," winning rider Stevens said after the race.

"He really gave me what I wanted and put himself right into the 3-year-old picture. Actually, I thought David's horse had won and I congratulated him after the wire. Jeff [Mullins] thought we'd won, and I had to tell him I didn't think so.

" I was on this horse for his last two works and they were sensational. The way he ran in the Baldwin and today gives Jeff has a horse that can go long or short, on dirt or turf."

The biggest disappointments in the race were favored Domestic Dispute, who ran out of gas in the final eighth of a mile to finish fifth, beaten three lengths for all the money; Man Among Men, who failed to fire and Ten Cents A Shine, who was rank on the clubhouse turn and flat in the stretch.

"This gives me one less option for the Kentucky Derby," Domestic Dispute's jockey, Jerry Bailey, said after the race. "If you asked me to make a pick of Derby mounts today [Mar. 16], I'd have to go with [Florida Derby winner] Empire Maker. This horse stumbled a little at the start, and traveled wide in the backstretch, but he flattened out when I thought he'd be moving into contention."

Trainer Bob Baffert said the prospects of an off track concerned him, but conceded that Domestic Dispute was a colt he was still trying to figure out.

"I had concerns about the track condition, but I don't know if that was it or not," Baffert said. "Plus it was the first time Jerry had ridden him, so that may have been something. He was kind of far back early and he made a good move on the turn, but really flattened out after that. We're still trying to figure this horse out and I guess we haven't yet. I don't know where we'll go from here."

Mullins indicated that Buddy Gil, who was not among the early nominees for the 2003 Visa Triple Crown, would be pointed to the Apr. 5 Santa Anita Derby, which is also the next spot for Atswhatimtalknbout. Trainer Patrick Biancone, who was elated with Brancusi's game third-place effort off a maiden win said his charge would be pointed to the Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland on Apr. 12 with the May 3 Kentucky Derby (GI) being the ultimate goal .

"We now have seven weeks until the Derby," said Biancone. "I still have my plan. I said if Brancusi finished first, second or third in this race that we'd continue on. So now we'll go to the Blue Grass (Apr. 12) and then go on from there to the Kentucky Derby.

"I think this horse showed tremendous heart to go that fast and be right there at the finish. Considering it was just his second start of the year and he's got a lot of room to grow, that was a very strong effort. I am very, very happy with him."

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