BACHELOR STAKES

Speedy Lukas colt has found ‘niche’

HOT SPRINGS - Brewing shoots for his third consecutive victory in the $100,000 Bachelor Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters today at Oaklawn Park.

Brewing, who needed five starts to break his maiden, is coming off a front-running 3-length victory in the $100,000 Gazebo Stakes on March 22.

The Gazebo marked the stakes debut for Brewing, a son of Maimonides owned and bred by Zayat Stables LLC (Ahmed Zayat) and trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas.

Brewing broke his maiden - again in gate-to-wire fashion - Feb. 22.

“I think it just took a little while for him to find his niche,” Lukas said. “He always impressed me.”

Lukas said he thought about trying to stretch out Brewing but “aborted” that idea and has kept him sprinting.

All six of Brewing’s career starts have been at 6 furlongs, the distance of today’s race.

“He’s a very, very aggressive little horse,” Lukas said. “He likes to get into his races.”

Brewing is among 11 horses entered in the Bachelor.

If the field remains intact, it will be the third-largest since the race was first run in 1974.

The Bachelor was not run in 1976, 1997-2007 and 2009-2010.

Brewing, the 5-2 second choice in the program, is scheduled to break from post 11 under Jon Court.

“That, I like,” Lukas said of breaking from the extreme outside. “That’s the only post that I drew all week that I like.”

The 2-1 program favorite is Pimpernel, who will be making his stakes debut and first start outside Southern California today.

A winner of two consecutive races for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Pimpernel is out of Xtra Heat, a 25-time stakes winner and finalist this year for induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Pimpernel, who will be ridden by Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, is coming off a 3-length entry-level allowance victory March 13 at Santa Anita near Los Angeles.

Also entered in the Bachelor are Candy Dandy, Guns Loaded, Burning Warrior, Northern Merit, Glacken Too, Mister Pollard, Condo Closing, Mighty Brown and Da Winner Is.

Sports, Pages 25 on 04/11/2014

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