Comma to the Top wires off-the-turf Daytona

The complexion of Saturday's $100,000

Daytona Stakes changed dramatically when the sprint was rained off the Santa

Anita turf, and Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Kevin Tsujihara's Comma to the

Top took full advantage to wire the scratch-reduced field.

With a few potential pace rivals, led by 7-2 morning-line favorite Great

Mills, opting to stay in the barn, Comma to the Top was left as the premier

speed, and the Peter Miller trainee made the most of it to push his earnings

past the $1 million mark. Originally carded as a Grade 3, the Daytona was

automatically downgraded because of the surface switch, pending review by the

American Graded Stakes Committee.

Jockey Edwin Maldonado picked up the mount after Corey Nakatani was involved

in a spill in the 4TH race. Driven right to the front, Comma to the Top splashed

through an opening quarter in :21 3/5 on the wet-fast, sealed track. Ain't No

Other attempted to match strides briefly, but ended up chasing the front runner.

Wilkinson, returning from a seven-month layoff, bided his time several lengths

back, roughly in tandem with Clubhouse Ride. Capital Account, the slight 8-5

favorite over Comma to the Top, brought up the rear.

As Comma to the Top reached the half-mile mark in :44, Ain't No Other was

again trying his best to challenge, but he could not keep up. Comma to the Top

began to open up down the stretch, despite drifting out on his left lead.

Although the 14-1 Clubhouse Ride rallied along the inside, and gradually

overtook Ain't No Other, the longtime leader was still safely 1 3/4 lengths

clear at the wire.

Comma to the Top, who clocked six furlongs in 1:08 1/5, completed the 6

1/2-furlong dash in 1:14 2/5. The 8-5 second choice returned $5.20, $3.60 and

$2.80.

"With the speed scratching, we felt we would go for the lead, and it worked

out good," Maldonado said. "I felt I had a ton of horse under me at the end. The

horse drifted out late, but the middle of the track was the hardest part of the

track. I am most appreciative of (trainer) Peter Miller for giving me the

opportunity."

"It looked like all the winners were coming in the middle of the track,"

Miller noted, "so I told him (Maldonaro) to try and keep the horse in the center

part of the track, and he did that. This has been an unbelievable year, but

there's no rest for the weary. We've just got to try and keep on winning, you

know."

Clubhouse Ride edged Ain't No Other by a head for runner-up honors. Capital

Account closed mildly on the outside and got up for fourth, relegating Wilkinson

to last in the quintet.

"The pace was fast, they just never slowed down in front of us," jockey David

Flores said of his trip aboard Capital Account.

In addition to Great Mills, the other withdrawals were Red Sun, Tale of a

Champion, Starspangled Heat, Circa'sgoldengear, Guest Star and Byrama, who was

an early scratch.

With this sixth career stakes score to his credit, Comma to the Top now

boasts $1,027,696 in earnings from his 25-11-2-1 line. The gelding earned three

stakes victories as a juvenile in 2010 -- the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity, Grade 3

Generous and the Real Quiet.

A gallant runner-up in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2011, Comma to the

Top took a swing at the Kentucky Derby, but trailed home last and exited the

race with an ankle injury that required surgery. He returned to action in the

fall of 2011, but won only one of three starts.

Sidelined until this summer, Comma to the Top made a winning four-year-old

debut in a turf sprint allowance at Golden Gate Fields, and followed up with a

third in the Robert K. Kerlan Memorial at Hollywood Park. He has since added

stakes wins in the Pirate's Bounty over Del Mar's Polytrack, and the Big Bear

Handicap at Santa Anita, along with fourths in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, Grade 3

Eddie D. and the Grade 3 Vernon O. Underwood last out on December 2.

"Words can't describe a horse like this," Miller said. "He's gone through so

much, but he wants to beat you. He's just an iron horse. He's a $22,000 gelding

and you wish you had a barnful of them. He makes training easy. He's a pleasure

to work around. He tries every time. He just wants to please you. The owners

deserve this. They're great guys and I'm really happy for them.

"We'll probably keep him sprinting," the trainer added of upcoming targets.

"I think he just might be a little better sprinting right now than he is going

long, and probably keep him on the main track."

Comma to the Top was bred by Richard Thompson and Linda Thompson in Florida,

and first sold for just $5,000 as an OBS October weanling. At the same venue as

a two-year-old in training in April 2010, the bay was purchased by Miller for

$22,000.

The son of Bwana Charlie was produced by the Stormy Atlantic mare Maggie's

Storm, who is herself a half-sister to stakes winner Yes He's a Pistol. Comma to

the Top's second dam is Grade 3 victress Maggies Pistol.

Earlier at Santa Anita, Ted and Judy Nichols' homebred Teddy's Promise came back from a 56-day break to

win Saturday's $92,200

Kalookan Queen Handicap as the 7-5 favorite. The

four-year-old filly stalked alongside the pacesetter before taking over the lead

at the half-mile mark and never looked back, pulling away for a 5 1/4-length

victory.

Trained by Ron Ellis, the dark bay filly completed 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14 3/5

over the wet-fast main track with Victor Espinoza. Coming off an eighth-place

finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, the daughter of Salt Lake captured her third stakes win.

"She likes this race track and she's kind of bred for the mud, too," Ellis

said. "She's been training really well. She's come back and done well since the

Breeders' Cup. I felt pretty good about her

today. I expected her to be close up. She was going to be first or second no

matter what in there. I really liked the way she sat off another horse. It was

very encouraging. She's going to come back in the (Grade 2) Santa Monica (at seven furlongs on January 26)."

Teddy's Promise won the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita 12 months ago. The

California-bred improved her career line to 20-7-2-1, $484,981.

In the next race at Santa Anita, Majestic Racing Stable and Rap

Racing's Avare took advantage of a scratch-depleted field in the $77,500,

off-the-turf

Eddie Logan

Stakes to romp by 4 1/4 lengths. The two-year-old went gate-to-wire

in 1:36 1/5 in the one-mile contest with Rafael Bejarano to post his first stakes victory. The Doug O'Neill trainee was exiting a disappointing

last-place finish in the November 10 Real Quiet Stakes at Hollywood Park after breaking

his maiden over the Santa Anita turf in October.

"He's not a real big colt, but he's always shown a lot of talent and had

everything go his way today," O'Neill said. "Rafael (Bejarano) has worked him,

they really seem to get along and it showed today. He's got the pedigree, he's

sound, and he's been showing us a lot in the mornings. The late two-year-old,

early three-year-old picture changes so much so we're keeping all our options

open. It's still just a five horse field victory but this game is part dreaming,

so we'll dream a little bit."

Saturday's stakes win boosted the Johannesburg colt's bankroll to

$78,900, and he now sports a 4-2-0-0 short career mark.

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