Midway through Danzing Candy 's first timed workout since his breakout score in the March 12 San Felipe Stakes (gr. II), trainer Cliff Sise looked down at his stopwatch and it showed :23 for the first quarter-mile.
"Well, I guess we're getting something out of this work," Sise said as he watched his trainee move on the turn.
Then, the Twirling Candy colt hit the wire in :58 3/5 for five furlongs, the fastest of 54 at the distance March 26 at Santa Anita Park and one of just three horses to run under 1:00.
BALAN: Danzing Candy Speeds to San Felipe Victory
"I didn't want to go quite that fast," Sise said of the drill with regular rider Mike Smith aboard, in preparation for the April 9 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I). "I wanted to go like a minute and change. Now we'll go a little slower next week."
Working in company, several lengths behind a Richard Baltas-trained runner, Danzing Candy closed ground quickly on the backstretch. His furlong fractions were :11 3/5, :23, and :34 1/5, and he finished about a length behind his workmate at the wire, with a gallop out to six furlongs in 1:11 4/5.
"He gets to his workmate and he thinks his job is done in the morning," Smith said. "Trust me, don't gauge him by his morning works. If they go fast, he'll go with them, but don't judge him because he doesn't run by. He knows the difference between the morning and the afternoon, and I don't know how. He has just always been that way."
Other horses working in preparation for the Santa Anita Derby were Smokey Image (five furlongs, :59 3/5) and Exaggerator (five furlongs, 1:00 4/5). Other notable workers Saturday were Bolo (four furlongs, :48 4/5), Melatonin (four furlongs, :49 2/5), Swipe (one mile, 1:43 2/5), Texas Red (six furlongs, 1:13 3/5), and Wild Dude (four furlongs, :46 2/5)
