Cozmic One, the first foal of 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, looked a lot like his mother through most of his highly-anticipated debut April 17 at Santa Anita Park, trailing a group of five other 3-year-olds in last, early on, in a mile maiden special weight event.
But the son of Bernardini lacked the trademark closing kick of his regal dam and never improved from last place, finishing 8-1/2 lengths behind Godolphin's winner Tried and True. That son of Medaglia d'Oro rallied from just off the pace to finish the mile in 1:37.04 on a fast track as the 10-1 fourth choice.
"For whatever reason -- and I don't know why -- he dropped back more than we would have expected," trainer John Shirreffs said of Cozmic One. "At one point, we're wondering if he was going to get into the race at all. At least he made a little move."
Cozmic One trailed by as many as 10 lengths in the early going and only made a modest improvement.
"Maybe he needs to show a little more speed," Shirreffs said. "We know he has the endurance, so maybe we need to work on speed and now let's get down to real business of training."
The result sent the relatively large crowd for a Santa Anita Friday into a deflated silence, although many perked up to cheer on the colt as he galloped back to the grandstand.
Cozmic One entered the paddock before the race with rider Victor Espinoza aboard to keep the colt calm after he had some issues schooling April 16.
"He reacts to the noises and all that kind of stuff," Shirreffs said. "Unfortunately, he's difficult, because he wants to fight it... One of the goals today was to get him to the race without getting mad and that worked out fairly well, so we're pretty happy with all that."
Volume -- a son of Blame, who was the only horse to defeat Zenyatta, in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic -- was forwardly placed throughout, behind early leader Attack, and hung on for second, a half-length behind Tried and True. Attack finished 2-1/2 lengths back in third.
Even-money favorite D' Church finished fourth, followed by Paythebank and Cozmic One.
"As far as what level of talent he has, that's the great thing about horse racing -- nobody really knows," said Shirreffs, who conditions Cozmic One for owners/breeders Jerry and Ann Moss. "Every horse, no matter who his mother is, no matter who his father is -- they have to prove themselves. Now it's time for 'Coz' to start learning how he's going to prove himself."