ARCADIA, CA – Sayjay Racing, Greg Hall, and Brooke Hubbard’s One Bady Boy returned to the winner’s circle with a gate-to-wire score in Sunday’s $70,000 Lure Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
One Bad Boy broke from post 3 under Flavien Prat and went straight to the lead, where he settled ahead of The Black Album and Gregorian Chant before posting opening fractions of :22.68, :45.53, and 1:09.28.
Still leading as he straightened for home on top, One Bad Boy held sway as Majestic Eagle closed in late.
The Richard Baltas trainee crossed 3/4 of a length clear while completing the firm turf mile in 1:33.27.
“He was going along effortlessly, but we got no breaks,” said Prat, who also piloted One Bad Boy to win the 2019 Queen’s Plate Stakes. “They were on top of me the whole race. He’s getting really good again, as you can see. He fought those horses off and showed a lot of heart. We’ve always thought he was a good horse.”
Majestic Eagle took second ahead of Gregorian Chant, while behind them came Murad Khan and The Black Album to complete the order of finish.
Grecian Fire was a veterinarian scratch in the field restricted to non-winners of a 2020 stakes (other than state-bred).
One Bad Boy’s win was his first of the year and came in his second start back after 13 months away, improving his record to 8-3-2-2. The 4-year-old Ontario-bred Twirling Candy ridgling, purchased for $65,000 as a yearling, has now earned $599,632.
“He’s a free-running horse who has a lot of talent,” Baltas said. “He had to overcome a physical issue, so he’s had a long time off and he was working really, really well coming into this race. Flavien worked him the last couple of times and he was kind of in love with him, so I felt confident today that the horse would run well.”
One Bad Boy returned $3.20 to win, $2.20 to place, and $2.10 to show. Majestic Eagle brought back $4.20 to place and $2.60 to show, while Gregorian Chant paid $2.40 to show.
