Santa Anita H.

Rock Hard Ten looms large in the handicap division this year (Benoit Photo)

Mercedes Stable & Paulson's ROCK HARD TEN (Kris S.) entered the $1 million

Santa Anita H. (G1) off consecutive wins in the Maibu S. (G1) and Strub S. (G2),

but the jury was still out on whether he could be a top-class performer at

the 1 1/4-mile distance. The four-year-old colt put all doubts aside in decisive

fashion on Saturday, storming to the front in midstretch of the prestigious

event and running to the wire in complete command for a 1 3/4-length victory.

With Gary Stevens in the saddle, the massive dark bay delivered Hall of Fame

trainer Richard Mandella his third victory in the Big 'Cap when finishing 10

furlongs over the fast track in 2:01 1/5.

"He's such a nice horse to do what he's done. He hasn't raced that many times

and he's accomplished everything now," said Mandella, who tied Ron McAnally for

the second-most wins in the Santa Anita Handicap behind the legendary Charlie

Whittingham. "I'll back off of him (now). We've given him a lot to do here and

we'll give him a little bit of a rest...we'll give him a break because we want

him to be good later in the year, too."

Truly a Judge (Judge T C) sprinted to the lead after the break and set

fractions of :23, :46 1/5 and 1:10 4/5 while under pressure from Grand Reward

(Storm Cat). Rock Hard Ten, who was hustled a little bit early from post 10 and

up close to the pace entering the first turn, settled back into fifth down the

backstretch and began to advance while four wide on the far turn. Grand Reward

seized about a two-length lead approaching the top of the stretch, getting a

mile in 1:35 3/5, but Rock Hard Ten was coming fast on the outside and rolled

right past his rival to the front.

Stablemate Congrats (A.P. Indy) finished up on the far outside for second,

but he was never a threat to the winner. Donn H. (G1) winner Saint Liam (Saint

Ballado), who was sent off the even-money favorite in his West Coast debut,

raced in stalking position before offering a brief bid leaving the far turn, but

he flattened out through the stretch to finish sixth.

Sent off as the 7-2 second choice, Rock Hard Ten returned $9.60, $5.60 and

$4.40 and started the $62.10 exacta ($1). Congrats, who was off at 14-1, paid

$12 and $9.80 and it was another length back to Borrego (El Prado [Ire]), who

caught Grand Reward in the final strides for third at 25-1 and gave back $10.

The $1 trifecta registered $950, and $1 superfecta ticket holders got a whopping

$22,397.40 for the 10-3-2-7 combination.

Lundy's Liability (Brz) (Candy Stripes) came next across the finish line and was followed by Saint

Liam, Imperialism (Langfuhr), Californian (GB) (Zafonic), Island Fashion (Petionville),

Truly a Judge and Supah Blitz (Mecke).