Fourty Niners Son rallies for San Luis Rey win

Tom Baxter's homebred FOURTY NINERS SON (Distorted Humor) raced just in

behind the pacesetter during Saturday's $200,000

San Luis

Rey H. (G2) at Santa Anita before taking over in the stretch and pulling off

the length victory under jockey Garrett Gomez. The Neil Drysdale-trained

six-year-old completed 1 1/2 miles on the firm turf in 2:27 2/5 to earn his first win in

more than a year.

A. P. Xcellent (A.P. Indy) moved to the fore when the gates opened, loping

along through splits of :25 3/5, :49 1/5, 1:15 and 1:39 4/5 while tracked by

Fourty Niners Son. Rounding the turn for the final time, Prospect Park (Sadler's

Wells) began to move on the top two on the outside, coming three wide. A. P.

Xcellent fought gamely into the stretch, but couldn't hold on as Fourty Niners

Son got a head in front. From there, it was a matter of who wanted it most, as

Fourty Niners Son persevered to the wire.

Sent off the nearly 7-2 second choice, Fourty Niners Son paid $8.80, $4.80 and

$3.80 while keying $1 exotics of $21.60 (exacta), $94.80 (trifecta) and $805.70

(3-8-5-4 superfecta).

Notable Guest (Kingmambo) rallied from midpack to get up and nose Prospect

Park out of second, returning $5.80 and $4.60 at nearly 4-1. Prospect Park was

game in defeat, holding third by three parts of a length over Fitz Flag (Arg)

(Flag Down) to give back $5 at 5-1. Runaway Dancer (Runaway Groom) was next by a

length and followed under the line by A. P. Xcellent and One Off (GB) (Barathea

[Ire]). Phar to Win (Avenue of Flags) was withdrawn.

Fourty Niners Son recorded his first stakes win in the 2005 Clement L. Hirsch

Turf Championship S. (G1) and raced only three times in 2006. In his 2007

seasonal debut, the chestnut ran fourth in an allowance over the course and

relished the stretch out here to take this one. He's placed in such prestigious

events as the Arlington Million (G1), Eddie Read H. (G1) and the past two

editions of the American Invitational H. (G2), and now boasts a 19-6-3-4 mark

with $673,825 in lifetime earnings.

Bred in Kentucky, Fourty Niners Son is out of the winning Cindazanno

(Alleged) and counts himself a half-brother to Grade 1 heroine Cindy's Hero (Sea

Hero), an unraced juvenile filly named Causin a Storm (Giant's Causeway) and an

unnamed yearling colt by Fusaichi Pegasus.