ARCADIA, Calif. – As recently as late July, it was preposterous to imagine Reef Runner and Beyond Brilliant as contenders in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
Reef Runner was sidelined, unraced since a flat third in an allowance in early May. Beyond Brilliant had just finished ninth in his first start in two years. The Eddie D, 6 1/2 furlongs on the Santa Anita hill, was a reach.
But horses change, even seasoned veterans. Reef Runner and Beyond Brilliant both improved enough to make the unthinkable Eddie D a reality and maybe compose the exacta.
The field includes 2024 winner First Peace, 11th in his comeback. Others are stakes-placed Sorrento Sky and Yellow Card, Nesso’s Lastharrah, Mucho Del Oro, and Kale’s Angel.
Reef Runner, trained in Florida by David Fawkes, was going nowhere this spring.
“I knew he was better than that,” Fawkes said. “He was real heavy in his neck, real stocky. I didn’t feel like I was getting a full performance out of him.”
Halfway through Reef Runner’s 4-year-old campaign, Fawkes opted for the ultimate equipment change: Reef Runner was gelded, then turned out.
“When he came back to the track, he didn’t look like the same horse,” Fawkes said. “He lost a bunch of weight in his neck, he evened out. He just looked like a better horse.”
Reef Runner ran like a better horse. He won a visually impressive comeback in an overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park.
“As soon as he won that, I said, ‘I’m going to California,’ ” Fawkes said, referring to Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap, five furlongs on turf at Del Mar.
Under jockey Paco Lopez, Reef Runner won the Green Flash but was disqualified to second for alleged interference with runner-up Motorious. Tough way to lose a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race. Fawkes then left Reef Runner in California with trainer John Sadler and assistant Juan Leyva.
The horse has trained well, but his rider is in another pickle. Lopez was handed a six-month suspension, and though he is named on Reef Runner, his status was uncertain midweek. Antonio Fresu is the backup.
The challenge for Reef Runner, a specialist at five furlongs, is getting 6 1/2 furlongs. Turf sprints at Del Mar and hillside turf sprints at Santa Anita are night and day.
Beyond Brilliant, third in the Green Flash, should relish the trip. It is surprising he is still competing at age 7 after missing all of 2023 and 2024. Previously a top distance turf horse, he wired the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2021 and won two Grade 2s with pressing trips.
“He’s always been a horse with a lot of talent and a lot of speed,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “Usually, we can channel his speed a little bit. But now that we’re sprinting him, we don’t have to really worry about that too much.”
Beyond Brilliant finished ninth in his comeback, then improved when he set a wicked pace and tired in a one-mile allowance on turf. Next out, Shirreffs did the unconventional and shortened him to five furlongs.
As expected, Beyond Brilliant trailed the Green Flash field, saved ground, finished well, and missed by a length. With another furlong and a half to work with Saturday, Beyond Brilliant and jockey Ricky Gonzalez can post an upset.
Motorious, the Green Flash winner via disqualification and runner-up in the 2024 BC Turf Sprint, was nominated to the Eddie D but will train into the Breeders’ Cup. Motorious had his second post-race workout on Sept. 22.
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