After flashing speed and fading in longer races during the fall and early winter, Take the One O One moves in another direction Jan. 23 when he sprints six furlongs in the $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park.
The Jay Em Ess Stable-owned 6-year-old son of Acclamation hasn't raced three-quarters of a mile since he was a 2-year-old in August 2017 when he broke his maiden at Del Mar. Seventeen races since have all been over longer distances, and eight of his nine starts in 2020 were two-turn contests between a mile and 1 1/8 miles.
Take the One O One went 2-for-9 last year for trainer Brian Koriner, taking a couple of allowance optional claimers and running competitively in stakes, including in graded company. He was fourth behind Improbable in the Awesome Again Stakes (G1) in September at Santa Anita, and third most recently in the Dec. 26 San Antonio Stakes (G2), beaten 1 1/2 lengths behind Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) longshot Kiss Me Goodbye.
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Take the One O One was also stakes-placed last fall at Del Mar when second in the Cary Grant Stakes against California-breds going seven furlongs, the last time he sprinted.
Twice in 2018 he won stakes vs. California-breds, taking the Snow Chief Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf and the Real Good Deal Stakes at seven furlongs on dirt. He is Saturday's 5-2 morning-line favorite.
Most of the seven rivals in the Palos Verdes possess more sprint experience, including defending champion Captain Scotty, a 7-year-old gelding owned by Wachtel Stable and Gary Barber.
Along with Tom Kagele's Shashashakemeup, Captain Scotty is one of two entries for trainer Peter Miller, who has won the last four renewals of the Palos Verdes. The first came with St. Joe Bay in 2017 and was followed by back-to-back wins from Roy H in 2018-19 before Captain Scotty's victory last year.
Previously a grade 2, the Palos Verdes was downgraded for 2021 by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
Captain Scotty enters Saturday's race having won two of his last three starts, either in claiming or allowance optional claiming races. He was scratched from a Jan. 10 claiming race for $40,000 at Santa Anita after his connections chose to run him again in the Palos Verdes, a late declaration that resulted in Santa Anita stewards fining Miller $400.
Shashashakemeup, an import from Kentucky after having been claimed for $50,000 in October, comes off a second in a well-rated allowance optional claiming race Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs behind the promising Silver State.
The field is completed by Pyron, Wildman Jack, Shooters Shoot, Ax Man, and Kneedeepinsnow. Shooters Shoot adds blinkers, while Ax Man, the 3-1 second choice on the morning line, returns after being away since July at Del Mar.
The Palos Verdes will be run without Lasix in keeping with new rules for most 2021 stakes races in California. All but Wildman Jack raced last out with the diuretic, which is used to control respiratory bleeding, but which is being phased out amid mounting criticism of the use of race-day medication.
Santa Anita Park, Saturday, January 23, 2021, Race 7Entries: Palos Verdes S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Pyron (KY) Umberto Rispoli 120 Mark Glatt 6/1 2 2Wildman Jack (KY) Abel Cedillo 122 Doug F. O'Neill 6/1 3 3Shooters Shoot (KY) Mario Gutierrez 120 Peter Eurton 12/1 4 4Captain Scotty (KY) Ricardo Gonzalez 122 Peter Miller 8/1 5 5Shashashakemeup (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 120 Peter Miller 4/1 6 6Ax Man (KY) Tyler Baze 120 Bob Baffert 3/1 7 7Take the One O One (CA) Jose Valdivia, Jr. 120 Brian J. Koriner 5/2 8 8Kneedeepinsnow (KY) Ruben Fuentes 120 Shelbe Ruis 10/1
