Sparky Ville overcomes rain to win San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita

What was supposed to be a race for Coliseum to make amends for a poor effort last time out instead led to veteran trainer Jeff Bonde channeling his inner Fred Astaire on Sunday during a wet afternoon at Santa Anita.

Coliseum, trained by Bob Baffert, fared no better in the $200,000 Grade II San Vicente Stakes than in the Sham Stakes last month, but the Bonde-trained Sparky Ville, a juicy 7-1 in a short five-horse field, won the first graded stakes of his career.

Fourth much of the way in the 7-furlong race run over a track labeled “wet fast,” Sparky Ville, ridden by Joel Rosario, got it in gear in the stretch and ran down Baffert’s second entrant, Dessman, in the final strides to win by a nose. Coliseum, the 3-5 favorite after a sixth-place finish in the Sham at the same price, finished a distant third, 6 1/2 lengths behind the top two.

Despite winning a Santa Anita Derby prep race that propelled such past winners as Majestic Prince (1969), Silver Charm (1997) and Nyquist (2016) onto Kentucky Derby glory, Bonde said he harbors no grand illusions of Derby success with Sparky Ville, a son of Candy Ride.

“This horse seems like he’s more adept at seven furlongs to a mile, so I’m not sure he wants a mile and a quarter,” Bonde said after he celebrated with a little dance while walking to the winner’s circle. “I could tell my horse had won, but I was so excited in the stretch. I thought I was gonna pass out. It’s always scary when you get a look at those Baffert Maseratis.”

How excited was he?

“I was absolutely dancing into the winner’s circle,” Bonde said. “It was so exciting, and Joel has been like one of my kids ever since he came from Bay Meadows. So it’s wonderful to win with him. The owners (Del Secco DCS Racing) are great people that really deserve something like this.”

Sparky Ville had flashed potential in the past, finishing a distant second behind Kentucky Derby hopeful Instagrand in the Grade II Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 11, winning the ungraded Sunny Slope Stakes during Santa Anita’s autumn meet on Oct. 21 and then coming in third behind Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner Mucho Gusto and Savagery in the Grade III Bob Hope Stakes on Nov. 17 at Del Mar.

But he finished a well-beaten sixth in his only try around two turns, albeit on the Santa Anita turf, in the 1-mile Eddie Logan Stakes on Dec. 28. That prompted Bonde to return Sparky Ville to the dirt in a one-turn race, which resulted in a $120,000 payday that increased the gelding’s career bankroll to $257,770.

Rosario rode the winner for the first time, overcoming some minor trouble around the second turn to help Sparky Ville score his third victory in eight starts to go with a second and two thirds.

“Going into the far turn, I was in tight, but I had to wait because I thought those horses were moving a little early,” Rosario said. “When we left the quarter pole, I asked him and he really picked it up. I thought those horses would come back to me and we would win easy, but (Dessman) kept fighting and it was close.”

Dessman, the 2-1 second choice who went into the race off a 7 1/2-length victory in his debut over a “good” track at Santa Anita on Jan. 19, was third up the backside until Flavien Prat asked him to go and he took a 1 1/2-length lead at the head of the stretch.

He looked like the winner halfway down the lane, but Sparky Ville and Rosario had different ideas.”I moved too soon,” Prat said. “He fought back when he saw (Sparky Ville). He ran great.”

The outcome cast serious doubt on the Derby hopes of Coliseum, a horse with a great amount of talent who has a mind of his own. On Sunday, they used the Citation bit on Coliseum, which is put on horses that are hard to handle. He rated just behind the pace-setting Savagery, who set fractions of 22.07 and 44.32, but he never looked like a winner when the real running began.

Final time for the 7 furlongs was 1:21.93.

Baffert, who has won the San Vicente a record nine time, still has Game Winner, scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 11, and Improbable, the Los Alamitos Futurity winner who could be sent to Arkansas for his Derby preps.

Add Mucho Gusto and Dessman, a Union Rags colt who figures to get only better with experience, and he’s still in good shape as he searches for his sixth Kentucky Derby victory.

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