Prominent Southern California trainers Bob Baffert, Phil D'Amato and John Sadler have entered a pair of runners each for Saturday's GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, setting up an intriguing dynamic for the centerpiece of the Memorial Day Weekend racing schedule.
Baffert sends out two talented 4-year-olds seeking to prove they belong at the highest level of the handicap division. Despite being a bit overshadowed by champion stablemate Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) in 2016, Gary and Mary West's American Freedom (Pulpit) put forth an impressive pair of second-place efforts in the GI Haskell Invitational and the GI Travers S. less than a month apart during his summer campaign. While the bay recently returned from a lengthy layup with an uninspiring fourth-place try in Churchill's GII Alysheba S. in the slop May 5, he could easily take a step forward putting blinkers back on in this return to Grade I company. American Freedom draws the rail here, presenting jockey Martin Garcia with an interesting decision regarding his use of the colt's tactical speed. Meanwhile, Cupid (Tapit) also flashed significant talent at times last year for the Baffert barn, including three wire-to-wire wins at the Grade II level. Returning from just over eight months on the bench, the gray must prove he can withstand pace pressure from morning-line favorite Midnight Storm (Pioneerof the Nile) to his inside.
Winner of last year's GI Shoemaker Mile on the lawn, Midnight Storm proved his versatility with a pair of wins on dirt in the GIII Native Diver S. at Del Mar Nov. 27 and the GII San Pasqual S. at Santa Anita on New Year's Day. The hard-trying dark bay fired a big shot and came up less than a length shy of MGISW Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) in the Mar. 11 GI Santa Anita H. and was last seen finishing a surprisingly punchless third in the GII Oaklawn H. in Hot Springs Apr. 15. Now back on his home track, the 6-year-old figures to assume his usual forward position from the bell. Trainer Phil D'Amato has also entered Big John B (Hard Spun), a long-winded stayer who recently closed stoutly to come up a neck shy of Hard Aces (Hard Spun) in the 1 1/2-mile GIII Tokyo City S. Apr. 2. Hard Aces, who won this race in 2015, is one of two entrants for trainer John Sadler and Hronis Racing, joining the ultra-consistent 4-year-old Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in the starting gate. Accelerate notably finished third in the wake of Tamarkuz (Speightstown) in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 4.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
