Sidney’s Candy leads all the way in winning Santa Anita Derby

Sidney’s Candy wins Santa Anita Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. — Sidney’s Candy led all the way in winning the Santa Anita Derby by 4½ lengths Saturday, with 4-5 favorite Lookin At Lucky finishing a troubled third in a ride by jockey Garrett Gomez that trainer Bob Baffert called “horrendous.”

After bobbling at the start, Joe Talamo took Sidney’s Candy to the lead, just as they did in winning the San Vicente and San Felipe on the same synthetic surface. The colt ran 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.00 to win the West Coast’s major prep for the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

Setsuko, runner-up in the Sham, rallied from last in the 10-horse field to finish second. Lookin At Lucky was another 1½ lengths back in third.

A stewards inquiry was posted after the race for an incident involving Lookin At Lucky, who took up near the five-sixteenths pole. He appeared to get squeezed down along the rail, forcing Gomez to stand up in the saddle.

But there was no disqualification because the other horses involved, Who’s Up and Alphie’s Bet, finished behind Lookin At Lucky.

An angry Gomez went after Who’s Up’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, near the scales where the riders weigh out after a race. Gomez landed punches before they were separated.

Lookin At Lucky was fourth much of the way before being shuffled back in the incident. He re-rallied on the inside to hit the board.

Sent off at 7-2 odds, Sidney’s Candy paid $9.60, $5.40 and $3 for owner Jenny Craig, the weight loss maven who named the colt after her late husband Sid. Setsuko returned $10 and $4.80, while Lookin At Lucky paid $2.10 to show.

Caracortado was fourth, followed by Skipshot, Sham winner Alphie’s Bet, Thomas Baines, Posse Power, Who’s Up and Cardiff Giant.