Nonios outkicks Liaison in Affirmed

The legacy of Affirmed, the last horse to sweep the Triple Crown, is very

much in the spotlight these days, as I'll Have Another seeks to follow in his

hoofsteps and end the 34-year drought. So it was an appropriate kickoff to

Belmont Stakes Week that Hollywood Park hosted the $100,000

Affirmed

Handicap in his honor on Sunday, and even more poignant that a descendant of

Affirmed, Green B. Smith Jr.'s Nonios, scored a smart win in his stakes debut.

Making his first start away from Golden Gate Fields, the Jerry Hollendorfer

colt was overlooked as the 15-1 second-longest shot on the board. The horse to

beat in the Affirmed was even-money favorite Liaison, last year's Grade 1

CashCall Futurity winner who was most recently sixth in the Kentucky Derby. But

Nonios had no problem in overturning the establishment.

With the early scratch of American Act, Gun Boat was left as lone speed in

his two-turn bow, and dictated through fractions of :24, :47 2/5 and 1:12.

Unusual Heatwave, whose third dam is by Affirmed, tracked in second. Nonios was

a rail-hugging third for Martin Pedroza, while Liaison was reserved in fourth,

and Holy Candy and Blingo were unhurried.

Turning for home, Nonios was clearly full of run and just needed a seam. The

gap came, and he shot between Unusual Heatwave and a weakening Gun Boat in

professional style. Liaison, who had been under a ride, at last began to pick

up, but he could not match the winner's strong kick.

Nonios maintained a half-length margin at the wire and stopped the teletimer

in 1:42 4/5 for 1 1/16 miles on the Cushion Track. Sired by Pleasantly Perfect,

who is himself out of a Group 1-winning daughter of Affirmed, Nonios furnished

payouts of $33.80, $10 and $4.60.

"When this horse sees a hole, he just goes for it -- very smart horse,"

Pedroza said. "Jerry (Hollendorfer) told me to ride this horse with confidence.

He said this horse can run.

"I wish I could have been outside because I had so much horse. It was just a

matter of whether or not I could get through. He wanted to go so bad on the

turn, but at that point I had nowhere to go. I wouldn't have let him go at that

point anyway. In the stretch, a hole opened up and he just attacked it."

"I always get worried when we're on the rail," Hollendorfer said, "and it

looked like there wouldn't be anywhere to go. We got lucky and got a seam and

ran through it. Martin rode through there very well."

"That horse (Nonios) just kept running," Liaison's rider Rafael Bejarano

said. "My horse had no excuse."

Holy Candy did his best work late to get up for third, 1 1/4 lengths behind

Liaison. Unusual Heatwave, Blingo and Gun Boat rounded out the order of finish.

"This horse (Holy Candy) is still learning," jockey Joel Rosario said. "He

kept looking around most of the way."

"Maybe an equipment change next time," trainer John Sadler said of Holy

Candy. "Maybe he needs blinkers. He's got a lot of ability, no question about

that."

Nonios' scorecard now stands at 4-3-0-1, $99,000. Unraced as a juvenile, the

dark bay colt turned heads when capturing his first two starts at Golden Gate

earlier this year. He took his six-furlong debut by 2 1/4 lengths on February

11, and impressed with a six-length romp in an entry-level allowance over a mile

on March 10. Nonios was then made a late nominee to the Triple Crown. After he

tried older horses in a second-level allowance on April 7, and finished a useful

third, his connections didn't get overambitious.

"I saw the tape when Russell Baze rode this horse at Golden Gate Fields,"

Pedroza said, referring to his allowance conquest from well back. "He was like

Silky Sullivan. I don't know what kind of horses he beat up there, but if you

watch that horse on the computer, you'll see what I'm talking about."

"I thought this horse could run for a long time," Hollendorfer said. "He

should be undefeated. He was very unlucky to lose at Golden Gate when he ran

against older. Luckily the owner kept confidence in me with this horse and let

me run him here.

"We have a long year left with this horse. All of the Triple Crown races are

gone, but there are other very important races around the country and also here

in California. To me, distance seems to be no problem. I made my mind up to run

Rousing Sermon in the Swaps (Grade 2 on July 4), but for this guy, I haven't

made a choice yet."

Bred by Hermitage Farm in Kentucky, Nonios sold for $21,000 as a Keeneland

September yearling, but commanded $73,000 as an OBS April two-year-old. He is a

half-brother to stakes winner City Cool and stakes-placed Super Robusto. They

were produced by the Touch Gold mare Stylish Manner, who is herself a

half-sister to Grade 3 victress Kiss the Devil, the dam of multiple stakes

scorer and Grade 3-placed Kiss Mine.

This is also the family of Grade 1 queen Nell's Briquette, dam of Group 2

winners Sanquirico and Love the Groom. Further back, one finds Canadian champion

One from Heaven, who happened to be by Affirmed.