Santa Anita: Awesome Again Stakes ambitious spot for You Know I Know

ARCADIA, Calif. – A $50,000 claimer as recently as April, the 4-year-old gelding You Know I Know makes his second consecutive start in a Grade 1 in Saturday’s $250,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. He deserves to be part of the field, in the mind of trainer John Sadler.

You Know I Know was third in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 25 and before that won an optional claimer over a mile on the synthetic track there Aug. 3.

“He ran two good races down there and he seems like a horse that is coming up a bit,” Sadler said Sunday.

Owned by Anthony Chacon and Paul Mangini Jr., You Know I Know has yet to win a stakes. If he were to win the Awesome Again Stakes, You Know I Know could start in a Breeders’ Cup race at Santa Anita on Nov. 1-2.

The Awesome Again Stakes is run over 1 1/8 miles on the main track and will be You Know I Know’s first start on dirt since a sixth in a maiden race at Santa Anita in April 2012. You Know I Know has not won on dirt in three starts, but Sadler said he was pleased with the way he worked six furlongs in 1:12 on the surface Sunday, the fastest of 18 recorded works at the distance. A winner of 5 of 18 starts and $329,830, You Know I Know has three wins on turf and two on synthetic tracks.

“He hasn’t run on the dirt in a long time, and we want to give him a shot,” Sadler said.

You Know I Know is the highest-placed runner from the Pacific Classic expected for the Awesome Again. Race winner Game On Dude will not start again until the BC Classic on Nov. 2. The Sadler-trainer Kettle Corn, second in the Pacific Classic, is expected to start in the $150,000 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Sunday.

You Know I Know is part of an Awesome Again field expected to include Chief Havoc, Holy Lute, Liaison, Mucho Macho Man, Paynter, Soi Phet, Summer Hit, and Take Control.

There are five $250,000 Grade 1 races on Saturday’s program that are preps for Breeders’ Cup races. Santa Anita’s autumn meeting opens Friday.

Beholder, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2012, runs in the Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles on the main track. The winner of the Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 1, Beholder won two Grade 1 races for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita earlier this year – the Las Virgenes Stakes and Santa Anita Oaks.

In the Zenyatta, Beholder is expected to face Authenticity, Flashy American, Great Hot, Include Me Out, Magic Union, More Chocolate, and Via Villaggio.

She’s a Tiger, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Aug. 31, will be favored to win the Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles. Trained by Jeff Bonde, She’s a Tiger worked five furlongs in 58.60 seconds at Santa Anita last Saturday, the fastest of 92 works at the distance.

The Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf is expected to be led by Tiz Flirtatious, the impressive winner of the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 11. She will face Marketing Mix, who beat Tiz Flirtatious in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park in May and was fourth in the Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 17.

Other probable starters are Customer Base, Lady of Shamrock, My Gi Gi, and Topic.

Tamarando, who won his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity over seven furlongs Sept. 4, starts in the FrontRunner Stakes for 2-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Tamarando is part of a field expected to include Bond Holder, Can the Man, Dance With Fate, New Year’s Day, Ontology, and Roundupthelute.