Malibu S.

The New York-bred with the 22-year-old trainer seems to have taken a liking to the main track at Santa Anita Park.

After a quality third-place run in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint Nov. 5, Mind Your Biscuits shipped back to his home state, resumed training there, and then came back to California to grind out a Grade 1 victory Dec. 26 in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes. 

Turning for home in the seven-furlong test, the Robert Falcone Jr.-trained Mind Your Biscuits loomed as the only threat to fellow East Coast shipper Sharp Azteca and wore down his rival on the outside to win by a half-length.

Under jockey Joel Rosario, Mind Your Biscuits hit the wire in 1:20.81 for his first Grade 1 victory.

"It was worth the trip," said Rosario, who also won the San Simeon Stakes Monday with Bettys Bambino and ran second in the Mathis Brothers Mile aboard Mittersill. "Not a bad afternoon. It is always fun coming out here. I was a little concerned in the stretch. We were closer than we have ever been before (but) they were smoking up front. We got a little late kick and he took off."

The Malibu score was also Falcone's first Grade 1. The Posse colt also gave Falcone his first graded score in the July 30 Amsterdam (Grade 2).

"This is great for him," Falcone said. "He bounced out of the Breeders' Cup great and he gets over the track so well. He just proved today—again—that he's a great horse."

Sharp Azteca dueled with Jazzy Times early, through a first quarter in :22.16 and a half in :43.80, and held a 1 1/2-length advantage with a furlong to run but could not hold off Mind Your Biscuits late. Normally a farther back, Mind Your Biscuits was only 1 1/4 lengths off the lead early and never let the frontrunners get too far away.

"There was quite a bit of speed in that race," said jockey Edgard Zayas, who rode Sharp Azteca. "I let (Jazzy Times) go for a bit on the lead but I didn't just want to give it to him, so I had to put the pressure on a bit, but that horse finished really strong. He's a really nice horse and my horse ran his eyeballs out. I felt he tried his hardest."

Favored Ten Blessings, who entered off a standout allowance win at Santa Anita Nov. 4, closed from sixth to finish third, followed by Mor Spirit, Awesome Banner, Semper Fortis, Who's Out, Horse Greedy, and Jazzy Times, to complete the order of finish.

Bred by Jumping Jack Racing, out of the Toccet mare Jazzmane, Mind Your Biscuits now has a 4-4-3 record from 13 starts with $675,366 in earnings for an ownership group that includes J Stables and Head of Plains Partners. - Jeremy Balan