Anees to Make 2000 Debut in San Felipe Stakes

Anees, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Eclipse Award winner, would seem to be running out of time, not to mention representing one of the coldest barns at Santa Anita. But trainer Alex Hassinger Jr. still thinks the Kentucky Derby on May 6 is a realistic goal.

Anees, slowed by a bruised foot after his Breeders’ Cup win at Gulfstream Park in November, will have time for only two Kentucky Derby preps, starting with the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday. The other race on his schedule is the Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

Horses with such little seasoning seldom win the Kentucky Derby. Since 1955, the only Derby winner with only two races as a 2-year-old has been Sunny’s Halo in 1983; the last Derby winner that made such a late debut as a 3-year-old was Spend A Buck, who won at Churchill Downs in 1985 after not beginning his campaign until March 23.

Hassinger has given Anees seven clocked workouts. “He’s a good work horse, and our ultimate goal is to have him at his best on Derby day,” Hassinger said. “The distances [Sunday at 1 1/16 miles and the Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles] are a perfect scenario for the Kentucky Derby [1 1/4 miles]. We hope it will work out like last year, when he peaked on Breeders’ Cup day.”

Anees had three starts and was third in his only stakes race before the Breeders’ Cup. He’ll probably be no better than third choice Sunday, after Fusaichi Pegasus and The Deputy. Fusaichi Pegasus, with two wins in three starts and a convincing victory around two turns on Feb. 19, is making his stakes debut. The Deputy, an import from England, has won twice at Santa Anita--once on grass--for his new trainer, Jenine Sahadi.

The others entered in the six-horse San Felipe are Promontory Gold, Commendable and Buster B Bimbo.

Horse Racing Notes

Another colt trained by Alex Hassinger Jr., Performing Magic, is running Sunday in the $200,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Garrett Gomez has the mount. Another jockey from Santa Anita, Alex Solis, will ride the undefeated Red Bullet for the first time in the Kentucky Derby prep. Red Bullet, bred and owned by Frank Stronach, has sprinted to win his first two starts. Also in the 10-horse field is Aptitude, who broke his maiden at Santa Anita on Jan. 1. . . . Captain Steve, third in the Louisiana Derby, is scheduled to run in the Santa Anita Derby.