Starting Thursday and concluding with a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day program on Monday, Santa Anita, which postponed weekend cards due to the fires in Los Angeles County, will stage five days of live racing. Saturday’s California Cup day, which will feature many of the top horses bred or sired in California, will be the highlight of the upcoming week. California Cup day will offer five stakes for state-breds worth $775,000 in total prize money. They are the $175,000 California Cup Derby, the $175,000 California Cup Oaks, the $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic, the $125,000 California Cup Sprint and the $125,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint on the hillside turf course.
On California Cup day, an 11-race card will be posted at 2:30 p.m. EST. Shea Brennan and I’m a Bad Boy, who finished one-two in last month’s King Glorious Stakes for state-breds at Los Alamitos, will rematch in the California Cup Derby. Phil D’Amato trains Shea Brennan for owner-breeder Nick Alexander. In the one-mile King Glorious, the colt by Tough Sunday set the pace and skillfully repelled a late attack from I’m a Bad Boy to secure his maiden stakes victory. Luis Mendez trains I’m a Bad Boy, a Stay Thirsty gelding, for C T R Stables.
The 11-person field for the Unusual Heat Turf Classic was quite competitive. For Harris Farms and trainer Dean Pederson, On the Whim has won state-bred stakes twice. For owners Perry Bruno and Amy Gezon, as well as trainer Jeff Mullins, Jimmy Blue Jeans leaves a victory over open company in a second-level allowance at a mile on turf. Veteran Grade 2 winner After finishing sixth in the November Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) for owner Hector Castrellon and trainer Jorge Periban, None Above the Law is back in the state-bred ranks. Blinkers On Racing Stable, Carolyn Corbett, and Jai Desai are among the owners of Old Pal, a state-bred stakes winner owned by trainer Mark Glatt. Glatt also added Aligato, who finished third after being defeated by just a half-length in last year’s Unusual Heat Turf Classic.
There are twelve 3-year-old fillies and one eligible filly ready to race in the California Cup Oaks, which is a wide-open event. Up to six runners, including Hey Jessie, the winner for trainer Sean McCarthy and owner Sayjay Racing, left last month’s Soviet Problem Stakes for state-breds competing in a one-mile dirt race at Los Alamitos. Stay and Scam, a multiple stakes winner against state-breds and two Grade 3 finishers for trainer Doug O’Neill and Reddam Racing last year, are leading the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint.
Big City Lights, the Grade 3 winner in the Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint, is a formidable opponent for owner William Peeples and trainer Richard Mandella. Big City Lights departs an 8 1/2-length romp in the seven-furlong Cary Grant Stakes for state-breds at Del Mar on Nov. 9. The new face in the lineup is promising Smiling Beast, who makes his stakes debut after winning his first two starts against state-breds. He is trained by Brian Koriner for owners Rusty Brown, Alan Klein and Philip Lebherz.
