Lakerville Shows No Rust After Layoff

There’s an old adage in racing that a horse coming off a long layoff often “needs a race” to get back to competitive form. On Sunday at Santa Anita, Lakerville put that theory to rest by coming in after almost 18 months away from racing and winning convincingly in the $75,000 Clocker’s Corner Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course. In his first start since running second in the Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar in June 2012, Lakerville came from off the pace to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Winner content to let others lead the way

After being made the morning line co-second choice at 7-2, the California-bred Lakerville was somewhat ignored at the windows and broke from the gate at 9-1. Jockey Corey Nakatani settled him in mid-pack of the nine-horse field as they made the left-hand turn and then came down the hill course into the final turn. As the field crossed over to the main track, Lakerville was still several lengths behind the leaders, but swung three wide and then found his best stride, going past the front-running Ankeny Hill.

Lakerville never worse than second lifetime

After stumbling at the gate, 6-1 Sweet Swap showed good perseverance to rally late and get up for second, with 19-1 Argentina-bred Di Georgio also putting in a late rally to grab the third spot in his US racing debut. The 2-1 favorite, Ready for More, pressed the pace early but couldn’t sustain his bid down the lane and faded to fifth. For Lakerville, the Clocker’s Corner was his first career stakes score, and he now sports an impressive record of five wins and two second-place finishes in seven lifetime starts.