By DRF.com
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Alert Bay was the best California-bred 3-year-old in 2014 who did not win the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.
In 2014, Alert Bay started the year as a maiden and finished as a five-time stakes winner. That record will make him the favorite in Saturday’s $250,000 California Cup Turf Classic at Santa Anita, a race that does not include Horse of the Year California Chrome.
Alert Bay is part of a field of 12 in the 1 1/8-mile Cal Cup Turf Classic.
“This race has been a target for a while,” trainer Blaine Wright said on Thursday.
The Turf Classic is the fifth and final stakes for California-breds on a 10-race California Cup program that begins at noon Pacific.
:: CALIFORNIA CUP: Get PPs, watch Saturday’s Santa Anita card live
Earlier in the day, there are eight 3-year-olds in the $250,000 California Cup Derby, a race California Chrome won in 2014. The other stakes are the $200,000 California Cup Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf, the $150,000 California Cup Sprint over six furlongs, and the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint on the hillside turf course.
The California Cup Turf Classic field includes nine stakes winners. Aside from Alert Bay, they are: Alpine Luck, Awesome Return, Big Bane Theory, Boozer, G. G. Ryder, Patriots Rule, Stoney Fleece, and Tamarando. Alpine Luck, claimed for $16,000 in November, was supplemented to the race for $25,000 when entries were taken last weekend.
Also in the field are the stakes-placed Bench Light and Super Ability as well as Christopher Street.
KEY CONTENDERS
Alert Bay
(Last 3 Beyers: 92-93-86)
◗ Alert Bay, who races for Peter Redekop, is already a stakes winner at this meeting, having won the $200,000 Mathis Bros. Mile on turf Dec. 26, a Grade 2 race.
◗ Alert Bay has won his last four starts, including two stakes wins at Hastings Park in British Columbia and the Zia Park Derby in New Mexico on Nov. 26.
◗ His last two wins impressed Wright.
“I thought he ran a hell of a race at Zia Park,” he said. “You could see how he’s progressing a little bit and wanting to be better.”
◗ In the Mathis Bros. Mile, Alert Bay closed from fifth in a field of 10 to win by a neck over Home Run Kitten.
“He showed a turn of foot last time,” Wright said. “Hopefully, he’s peaking. We know it will be a tough race with the older horses in there.”
:: DRF Live: Get real-time updates and insights from DRF reporters and handicappers on Saturday
Big Bane Theory
(Last 3 Beyers: 94-90-89)
◗ Big Bane Theory won the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on turf here Oct. 4 and was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile here Oct. 31. After a dull fifth-place finish behind Kaigun in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar on Nov. 28, Big Bane Theory had a troubled trip here in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Jan. 3, racing in traffic through the stretch.
“He never really had a chance to run,” trainer Carla Gaines said. “He was pinned in the whole way and was beaten two lengths.”
G. G. Ryder
(Last 3 Beyers: 87-89-88)
◗ Second in the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on Nov. 30, G. G. Ryder will be part of the pace. The 4-year-old colt won the Alcatraz Stakes over a mile at Golden Gate Fields last May.
Awesome Return
(Last 3 Beyers: 89-89-85)
◗ In 2014, Awesome Return was fourth behind California Chrome in the California Derby and won the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf here in April. Awesome Return won the restricted Let It Ride Stakes at a mile on turf in the autumn at Del Mar and was a fast-closing third in the Mathis Bros. Mile.
◗ An extra furlong in this race will help Awesome Return, who is trained by Mike Puype.
“His record is good at a mile, but he likes the flow and the rhythm of a longer race,” Puype said. “When you’ve got a come-from-behind style like him at a mile, everything has to work out for you. I’d rather run him at a mile and an eighth.”
Tamarando is by Bertrando, out of the Dehere mare Tamarack Bay, was bred by owners Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams and is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer. He has four wins in 15 starts, earnings of $665,620 and is coming off a sixth in the Dec. 26 Malibu. He was second in last year’s Cal Cup Derby.
G.G. Ryder is by Chhaya Dance, out of the Storm Boot mare Stormy Gigi, was bred by Eagle Oak Ranch, is owned by Jerry Hollendorfer and George Todaro and is trained by Hollendorfer. He has seven wins in 14 starts, earnings of $215,794 and is coming off a Jan. 1 allowance win.
Alert Bay is by City Zip, out of the Dushyantor mare Hickory, was bred by Thomas Bell & Ross McLeod, is owned by Peter Redekop and is trained by Blaine Wright. He has seven wins in 13 starts, earnings of $617,207 and is coming off a win in the Dec. 26 Mathis Brothers Mile.
Patriots Rule is by Tribal Rule, out of the Seattle Bound mare Candy Factory, was bred by Dahlberg Farms, is owned by Charles Garvey and trained by Robertino Diodoro. He has four wins in 13 starts, earnings of $244,420 and is coming off an eighth in the Dec. 26 Mathis Brothers Mile.
Big Bane Theory is by Artie Schiller, out of the Alysheba mare Shebane, was bred by owners Scott Gross and Mark Devereaux and is trained by Carla Gaines. He has four wins in 14 starts, earnings of $365,890 and is coming off a seventh in the Jan. 3 San Gabriel.
Bench Light is by Benchmark, out of the Habitony mare Lightly Go Lightly, was bred by Ellen Jackson and Margaret Scherr, is owned by Cunningham Stable, A. Herbertson, D. Medina and S. Herbertson and is trained by Michael Pender. He has eight wins in 28 starts, earnings of $317,231 and is coming off a second in a Jan. 8 optional claimer.
Awesome Return is by Decarchy, out of the Mr. Broad Blade mare Awesome Broad, was bred by owner Richard Kritzski and is trained by Mike Puype. He has four wins in 10 starts, earnings of $354,780 and is coming off a third in the Dec. 26 Mathis Brothers Mile. He was fourth in last year’s Cal Cup Derby.
Stoney Fleece is by Decarchy, out of the Deputed Testamony mare Gold Fleece, was bred by Joseph Alvarez III, is owned by Michael Terry and trained by Carl O’Callaghan. He has eight wins in 37 starts, earnings of $581,019 and is coming off a sixth in a Jan. 1 allowance. He was second in this race last year and third in the 2011 Cal Cup Bob Benoit Juvenile.
Boozer is by Unusual Heat, out of the Cape Canaveral mare Kitty and Boo, was bred by B. Abrams, V. Loverso, C. Perez, Huston Racing and M. Auerbach, is owned by Al and Saundra Kirkwood and trained by Mark Glatt. He has five wins in 13 starts, earnings of $297,742 and is coming off a fourth in a Jan. 2 optional claimer.
Super Ability is by Langfuhr, out of the High Brite mare Super High, was bred by Harris Farms, is owned by Harris Farms and Iconic Thoroughbreds and is trained by Carla Gaines. He has four wins in 12 starts, earnings of $231,505 and is coming off a fifth in a Jan. 2 optional claimer.
Christopher Street is by Unusual Heat, out of the Meadowlake mare Papoose Bay, was bred by George Krikoria, is owned by Emily Wygod and trained by John Sadler. He has three wins in 17 starts, earnings of $184,462 and is coming off a third in a Dec. 26 optional claimer.
Alpine Luck is by Lucky J. H., out of the Swiss Yodeler mare I Can Yodele, was bred by Heinz Steinmann, is owned by Big Chief Racing and trained by J. Keith Desormeaux. He has two wins in 16 starts, earnings of $175,824 and is coming off a fourth in a Jan. 1 optional claimer.