Sinai lays down the law first time out

Zayat Stables’ Sinai took to the lead in a six and one-half furlong maiden special weight at Hollywood Park Saturday evening and never relinquished it to win his debut by two lengths for trainer Bob Baffert.

Jockey Rafael Bejarano said afterward that the son of Rockport Harbor gave him “a lot of confidence because he had been working well in the morning. He went easy on the lead, and I tried to relax him.”

Sinai was challenged in the stretch but dug in harder to pull away in the final sixteenth of a mile.

The gray colt was bred by Guida Racing Stable, which had reason to believe in the pairing with Rockport Harbor, as the cross has worked before. Their mare, Dontgetinmyway, by Machiavellian, is a half-brother to multiple Graded Stakes winner Even the Score, by Rockport Harbor’s sire, Unbridled Song.

On December 17, daughter Aixa became winner number 19 for her sire with her win in Puerto Rico. She was bred by Marion Montanari in Florida and is out of the stakes-placed mare Red Beauty, from the family of Louis Quatorze.

With the win by Sinai, Rockport Harbor is now a top five first crop stallion by wins in 2010. Among those winners are Stakes winners Bear’s Future and May Day Rose, as well as G3-placed Minutesandtouches.