The Sham Stakes is an important race on The Road To The Kentucky Derby. The race was inaugurated at Santa Anita Park, in Arcadia California, in 2001. The race is named for Sham, an amazing thoroughbred who spent his career finishing second to Secretariat in the first 2 legs of the Triple Crown. Sham is the second fastest KY Derby horse ever. The Grade III Sham Stakes became a KY Derby points race in 2013, right about the time Southern California based racehorses began to frequent the cherished “winners” title in the KY Derby. Recent CA based KY Derby winners include 2014 California Chrome, 2015 American Pharoah, 2016 Nyquist and 2018 Justify. No Sham Stakes winners have yet to win the KY Derby though Santa Anita raced horses have done so often. The Sham Stakes offers 10-4-2-1 points to the first four finishers respectively.
The 2019 edition of the Sham Stakes is sure to be enthralling. This could be the year that this race produces a KY Derby winner. On Saturday, 1/5/19 in race 9 on a card of 10, seven worthy thoroughbreds will race for a $100, 000 purse and points to hit the KY Derby leaderboard. The 1 mile dirt race for 3 year-olds posts at 7:04 P.M. EST (4:04 PST). The field is as follows by post/horse/jockey/trainer/owner/and morning-line odds:
- Sueno/Kent Desormeaux/Keith Desormeaux/Silverton Hill/LLC./20-1
- Gray Magician/Flavien Pratt/Peter Miller/Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Wachtel Stable or Barber/4-1
- Savagery/Joel Rosario/Peter Miller/Rockingham Ranch/10-1
- Easy Shot/Rafael Bejarano/Keith Desormeaux/Calumet Farm/30-1
- Coliseum/Joe Talamo/Bob Baffert/Godolphin, LLC./1-1
- Gunmetal Gray/Mike Smith/Jerry Hollendorfer/Hollendorfer, LLC, Pearl Racing or West Point Thoroughbreds/5-2
- Much Better/Drayden Van Dyke/Bob Baffert/ Three Chimneys Farm/6-1
In the field of 7 there are very few trainers. Baffert races both Coliseum and Much Better. Desormeaux trains Sueno and Easy Shot. Miller races Gray Magician and Savagery. Hollendorfer is the trainer with a lone entry, Gunmetal Gray. Of these, Baffert is the leading trainer for this race historically with 5 wins. Desormeaux has never won the Sham. Miller won once in 2015. Hollendorfer won in 2002.
Among the jockeys in this race, Smith has won twice and Desormeaux has won once. Smith’s wins came when he was paired with Baffert in 2014 and 2018. This is a combination unpaired in this race. When Desormeaux won in 2002, it was with Hollendorfer, another match not seen in this edition. Additionally, there have been some rider shake ups. Platt was replaced on Gunmetal Gray by Smith while Pratt stays with Gray Magician. Desormeaux leaves Easy Shot and rides Sueno instead as Bejarano picks up Easy Shot. Rosario will ride Savagery who was disqualified in his last start with another rider. Coliseum and Much Better maintained their jockeys.
As for the thoroughbreds, all KY breds, here they are, listed by their name (dam-sire) and career listed as win-place-show (career starts):
- Sueno (Atreides – Class Above) 2-0-1 (3)
- Gray Magician (Graydar – Burg Berg) 1-1-2 (4)
- Savagery (Bellamy Road – Successful Katie) 1-2-0 (6)
- Easy Shot (Trappe Shot – Daddy’s Dreamgirl) 1-1-0 (4)
- Coliseum (Tapit – Game Face) 1-0-0 (1)
- Gunmetal Gray (Exchange Rate – Classofsixtythree) 1-1-0 (4)
- Much Better (Pioneerof the Nile – Dust and Diamonds) 1-1-0 (3)
Clearly, Coliseum is the favorite and it is him in the 3 pictures included in this story. Our regularly contributing handicapper was kind enough to share the photos he took of Coliseum when he was at Del Mar in November. I wish the best for all of the contenders and today we shall see a shake up on the KY Derby leaderboard thanks to the Sham Stakes outcomes. Don’t miss the $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes, the 7th race, at Santa Anita either. Keep following Thoroughbred U for all things thoroughbred racing. Next stop, a visit to the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. Upcoming, we can not miss the Pegasus World Cup!
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