Midnight Hawk slated as Sham favorite

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's Midnight Hawk has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

Co-owned by Mike Pegram, Midnight Hawk will break from the outside post in the six-horse field with Mike Smith once again riding the gray gelding.

Smith was aboard the gelding on Dec. 13 at Hollywood Park when they won the horse's debut race. Midnight Hawk posted a 6 1/4-length victory after getting off a bit slowly in the 7 1/2-furlong contest. The gelding will carry 118 pounds, same as the other five, in the mile stakes.

The 2-1 co-second pick is Kristo who has the inside post with jockey Rafael Bejarano. This will be the colt's first start since breaking his maiden at Santa Anita on Oct. 31.

"His last race was good. I didn't want to run him on synthetic, so I've saved him for the dirt,' trainer John Sadler noted.

Kristo, owned by Hronis Racing, was second in each of this first two starts at Del Mar and Santa Anita, respectively.

Also at 2-1 in the program is Top Fortitude, trained by Kory Owens and owned by Triple AAA Ranch. The chestnut colt will start from post 5 with Kayla Stra in the saddle.

Top Fortitude is also coming off a win in his debut effort on Nov. 16 at Hollywood Park.

Here is the field for the Sham in post position order: Kristo, Rafael Bejarano, 2-1; I'll Wrap It Up, Tyler Baze, 8-1; Life Is a Joy, Corey Nakatani, 12-1; Ontology, Mario Gutierrez, 8-1; Top Fortitude, Kayla Stra, 2-1; and Midnight Hawk, Mike Smith, 8-5.