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Horse named for Kobe Bryant makes impressive debut

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Lakers fan Lee Searing waited until he thought he had a real nice horse, and it happened to coincide with an injury to his favorite player, Kobe Bryant, so he named his 2-year-old colt, Kobe’s Back. And what a debut for the son of Flatter on Saturday at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Running in the $100,000 Willard L. Proctor Memorial Stakes, Kobe’s Back started slowly out of the gate in the 5 1/2-furlong race and was last in a field of nine. But he came charging in the stretch under jockey Rafael Bejarano and won by 3 1/4 lengths over Willie B Awesome.

Searing beamed afterward and told the story of how much he and his wife, Susan, love the Lakers and Bryant.

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“I’ve watched him for 17 years,” he said. “I knew he’d be back, so we named him, ‘Kobe’s Back.’”

Bryant is recovering from a torn Achilles’ tendon.

Kobe’s Back was purchased for $480,000 at the Ocala March sale.

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