ARCADIA, Calif. – El Potente turned back time Saturday at Santa Anita, where the 7-year-old front-running veteran won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes for a second straight year.
Despite unexpected pace pressure, El Potente ($4 favorite) won by 3 3/4 lengths in a quick 1:33.49. Gas Me Up, the second favorite, rallied from last to finish second. Watsonville, Lord Bullingdon and Namaron completed the order of finish in the five-horse field.
Dan Blacker trains El Potente, who figured to be loose on the lead under jockey Hector Berrios in the one-mile race. Surprisingly, Namaron went up to pressure El Potente early through a half-mile in :46.67.
“I knew if he was the same horse as last year, it wouldn’t make a difference,” Blacker said.
It made no difference. El Potente shook clear at the quarter pole, and extended his margin through the stretch to score his seventh win from 17 career starts for owner Mike Way.
“He’s just thriving right now, he’s a cool horse,” Blacker said. El Potente in fact, is a full horse. Although many geldings continue racing at an advanced age, El Potente, sired by Temple City, was not castrated.
El Potente was stretching out from a super fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes, a fast-paced hillside sprint. In his start before that, he finished third racing 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit at Del Mar. One mile is his preferred trip.
“He had legit excuses in both races, I knew they both were not his best distances,” Blacker said.
The Thunder Road was the third start for El Potente following a long layoff, and now the question becomes, where next?
“The Kilroe most likely is where we’re going,” Blacker said, referring to the Grade 2 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 7 at Santa Anita. El Potente was scratched from the Kilroe last year, and subsequently took nearly 10 months off.
However, Blacker acknowledged El Potente is under consideration for “something slightly more adventurous, maybe in Dubai.” For now, Blacker is just happy his veteran has returned to peak form.
“We want to see how he comes out of the race” before making plans.
The win by El Potente was a milestone for his jockey. Berrios was presented with a placard in the winner’s circle commemorating his 600th career victory in North America.
Formidable Man returns
The turf mile division will get tougher when multiple Grade 1 winner Formidable Man returns from a winter freshening. Runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Formidable Man is scheduled to return Monday to trainer Michael McCarthy’s stable after a winter freshening at Bonnie Acres Farm in Riverside.
Formidable Man has won eight races and $1.5 million from 16 starts. The 5-year-old won the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2024; his victory in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March 2025 was one of three graded stakes wins last season. Formidable Man also won two Grade 2s in summer at Del Mar – the Eddie Read and Del Mar Mile.
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