ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Gunmetal Gray rallied from last to win the $100,000 Sham Stakes by a length, giving the gray colt qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.
Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Gunmetal Gray ran a mile in 1:38.96 at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Trained and co-owned by Jerry Hollendorfer, Gunmetal Gray was caught six-deep turning for home before overtaking longshot Sueno late to earn his first stakes victory in his fifth career start. The colt was beaten 12 1/2 lengths in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Churchill Downs.
Gunmetal Gray returned $9.40, $4.80 and $3.40 at 7-2 odds in the field of seven and earned 10 points on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.
"Mike sat back, bided his time and he ran them down," Hollendorfer said. "We came back here after the Breeders' Cup and he's really trained well the past two months."
Sueno returned $9.60 and $5.20 at 18-1 odds. Much Better was three-quarters of a length back in third and paid $5 to show for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
Coliseum, the 3-5 favorite trained by Baffert, finished sixth.
The victory, worth $60,000, increased Gunmetal Gray's career earnings to $217,200, with two wins in five starts.
