Calculator captures Sham Stakes

Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Odds-on favorite Calculator ran away down the stretch to capture Saturday’s $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita.

The mile stakes is the first this year leading up to the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 4.

Trained by Peter Miller and ridden by Elvis Trujillo, Calculator went off as the 3-5 favorite in the eight-horse field. The gray colt settled off the pace but made progress going into the far turn.

Owned by Richard Pell, Calculator joined the leaders on the final turn and easily moved to the front entering the stretch. Winless coming into the Sham, Calculator drove down the stretch to break his maiden by six lengths over 21-1 longshot and stablemate Rock Shandy.

Finishing third was Pioneerof the West with St. Joe Bay, also trained by Miller, fourth and Papacoolpapacool fifth followed by Hero Ten All, Unblunted and Rockinatten.

The time for the mile was 1:34.88 on a fast track.

Winning the Sham, part of the Kentucky Derby points system, was worth 10 points for Calculator to gain entry into the Run for the Roses.

The 3-year-old added $60,000 to his bankroll. Finally getting to the winner’s circle in his fifth start brought Calculator’s earnings to $193,500.

Calculator finished third in his career debut at Del Mar on July 19 and fourth three weeks later over the track’s synthetic main track. His two most recent starts were versus Eclipse Award finalist American Pharoah. The gray colt posted a pair of seconds to American Pharoah in the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 3 and the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27.

Calculator paid $3.20, $2.40 and $2.20. Rock Shandy returned $10.60 and $5.40, and Pioneerof The West paid $6.00 to show.

Categorized in: Horses