Alfarabi worthy of trainer's confidence

Abdullah Almaddah’s colt Alfarabi showed a new distance dimension today by winning an allowance event at Santa Anita in his 3-year-old debut going 1 1/8 miles on the turf under jockey Garrett Gomez. He broke a bit awkwardly, but quickly recovered and was forwardly placed just off the pace. He responded nicely when asked at the top of the stretch, taking the lead at the eighth pole and holding on gamely to win by ½ length.

The gray son of Yes It’s True had previously run his best races at distances of a mile or under, breaking his maiden and finishing second in the Eddie Logan Stakes going a mile on the turf. His lone try over a mile in the Norfolk Stakes GI going 1 1/16 miles was one of only two races off the board, but trainer Eoin Harty had enough confidence to try him at the longer distance and he did not disappoint.

“He is clearly a better horse on the turf and will now go hunting bigger game,” said Harty.

Alfarabi was bred in Kentucky by Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton and Mark Mullen. He was purchased at the 2009 OBS March 2-year-olds in training sale for $210,000 by bloodstock agent Tim McMurry. He is out of the Rubiano mare Linda Coqueta.

American Lion roars home in Hollywood Prevue

By Steve Bailey

WinStar Farm’s American Lion came off the rail in the turn and charged down the stretch to a half-length victory in the $100,000 Hollywood Prevue Stakes (G3) for two-year-olds on Saturday at Hollywood Park.

The bay Tiznow colt won for the second time in three career starts and captured his first stakes victory for trainer Eoin Harty. He entered the seven-furlong race off a 6¾-length win in a maiden special weight race at the same distance on October 18 at Keeneland Race Course.

"This horse is very sensible, but he's still unfocused,” Harty said. “Coming down the stretch, he was flicking his ears and looking at everything. But there's plenty of time to correct that before Derby Day, if we get that far.

“At the three-eighths pole, I thought he was in trouble. It looked like he was under a ride and going nowhere. But he got to running in the lane."

Macias broke sharply and went right to the front, taking the field through fractions of :22.59 for a quarter-mile and :45.81 through a half-mile as American Lion stalked the pace from third under jockey Julien Leparoux.

Still third in the stretch, American Lion made his bid three wide and surged ahead near the final sixteenth, holding off a game charge by Get My Fix to cover the distance in 1:22.49.

"This was a good learning experience for him,” Leparoux said. “He needs to learn more and he's still a big baby. That's good, though, because he's still winning.

“When the other horse came up to him at the wire, he just took off again. It's not like's he's tired or anything. He's just a little green, but he's a nice horse."

Get My Fix finished three-quarters of a length in front of Seattle Ruler with Macias another 1¼ lengths back in fourth.

With two victories and a runner-up finish in his three starts, American Lion boosted his earnings to $95,600. He is the first starter out of the winning Storm Cat mare Storm Tide, who is a full sister to stakes winner Weather Warning.

Kettle River runs to victory

Darley Stable’s Kettle River was much the best of eight 2-year-olds in a Maiden Special Weight going 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Hollywood Park on Sunday with Brice Blanc in the irons. The bay colt broke alertly and sat at the flanks of the pace setter until the top of the stretch, where he took command and was never threatened thereafter, winning under a hand ride by 1 ¼ lengths.

The son of Congaree was making his second start after debuting in August at Saratoga on a sloppy racetrack not to his liking. He appeared to relish the turf and the distance today at Hollywood Park, surprising the bettors, who sent him off at 9-1.

Kettle River was bred in Kentucky by Stonerside Stable and is out of the Compadre mare La Grande Mamma.