'Rich Tapestry' Rallies To Win $300K Santa Anita Sprint Championship

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Rich Tapestry rallied with a sixteenth of a mile to go to upset 4-5 favorite Goldencents by a nose and win the $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Ridden by Olivier Doleuze, Hong Kong-based Rich Tapestry ran six furlongs in 1:07.59 and paid $16.80, $3.80 and $2.40. The 6-year-old gelding earned an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at the track Nov. 1.

Rich Tapestry had been idle since losing a Group 2 race on April 27 at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong. He ran on natural dirt for the first time Saturday and was sent off at 7-1 odds.

The victory, worth $180,000, increased Rich Tapestry's career earnings to $1,449,533, with seven wins in 27 starts.

"I know in American racing style, they go very fast, always very fast in the first quarter and the second quarter and in the home straight, they all slow down," trainer Michael Chang said. "So I just asked my jockey, `Give the horse a chance. Try to make him finish. You cannot go with them in the early stage."'

Goldencents returned $2.40 and $2.10 for trainer Doug O'Neill, who has been banned from entering horses in this year's Breeders' Cup. Goldencents is the defending champion in the BC Dirt Mile. O'Neill said the horse is likely to run, but he wasn't sure who would be the trainer of record. O'Neill is banned because he received a 45-day suspension for a medication violation in New York in June 2013.

Secret Circle, last year's BC Sprint winner, was another 1 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $2.10 to show. He had been off since Feb. 2.

In the $100,000 L.A. Woman Stakes, Top Kisser won by 3 3/4 lengths under Elvis Trujillo as the lone California-bred in the field of six.

Top Kisser ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.84 and paid $6.20, $3.40 and $2.80.

Tribal Gal returned $6.40 and $3.40, while My Happy Face was another 1 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $3.40 to show.

Stopshoppingdebbie, the 2-1 favorite, finished fifth, beaten by 9 1/2 lengths.

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