Grade 1 winner SPUN TO RUN’s first runner was also his first winner on Friday when Night Beacon impressed in a Santa Anita Maiden Special Weight.
Sent off as the heavy favorite in the 4 ½ furlong dirt race, Night Beacon encountered a little trouble leaving the gate but quickly put that behind her and took control. Coming into the stretch, jockey Emily Ellingwood asked her to put her best foot forward and the SPUN TO RUN juvenile obliged.
She was coaxed just enough to stay focused in the closing stages to register a 2 ¾ length victory with the third placed runner over seven lengths behind.
#1 NIGHT BEACON ($3.80) absolutely dominates in her debut at Santa Anita Park. She is the first starter and winner for her sire Spun To Run (@Gainesway)! @EmEllingwood was in the irons for @rhansonracing. ⚡ pic.twitter.com/Pet5WRCGiX
— FanDuel Racing (Formerly TVG) (@FanDuel_Racing) May 10, 2024
Trained by Ryan Hanson for WSS Racing, Night Beacon had impressed on the work tab with three bullets and a top two work in her last seven works.
The Mulholland Springs-bred filly is a half-sister to the stakes winning Classicstateofmind and the stakes placed Harlands Thunder out of stakes placer and Grade 1 fourth Stormandaprayer. That mare is now the dam of seven winners from seven to race. Night Beacon is a granddaughter of Grade 1 winner Stormy Pick, who is one of three stakes performers out of her own multiple stakes winning dam.
SPUN TO RUN hit the board in five of his six stakes runs as a racehorse, with his three stakes victories led by a win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1). He also placed second in the Cigar Mile (G1) and third in the Haskell Invitational (G1).