Acclimate too sharp to wait for Breeders' Cup, returns in John Henry

ARCADIA, Calif. – Acclimate earned a fees-paid berth to the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf with a win in the Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 17. His performance in the Grade 2, $200,000 John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles on Saturday at Santa Anita will determine how much respect he merits against an international field in the BC Turf.

“He’s really sharp,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “The owners gave me the option to skip this race and wait for the Breeders’ Cup. As sharp as he is, I decided to run in both. To wait a month for the Breeders’ Cup, that is not the best course of action.

“He can run a big race and we don’t have to do much going into the Breeders’ Cup.”

Acclimate, who races for the Bud Johnston Family Trust and Timmy Time Racing, has won three of his last four starts, including two graded stakes. He has led throughout in his wins.

“That’s what he does best,” D’Amato said. “He goes as fast as needs be. That’s where his comfort zone is.”

In the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf, Acclimate led by 1 1/2 lengths on the backstretch and won by a length over Oscar Dominguez, who is part of the John Henry field along with Ritzy A.P., who was third in the Del Mar Handicap.

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United, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Richard Mandella, was held out of the Del Mar Handicap because of illness. United was second in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf here on May 25, despite encountering early trouble.

“He was a little unlucky in the Whittingham,” Mandella said. “He came on and ran good.”

Whether United will start in the BC Turf depends on the outcome of the John Henry, Mandella said.

The BC Turf is unlikely for Oscar Dominguez or Grecian Fire, a stakes winner against California-breds who was third in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 19.

Oscar Dominguez, claimed for $40,000 in February, was second to Acclimate in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Handicap at about 1 3/4 miles on turf here in June. Trainer Richard Baltas expects Oscar Dominguez to be closing well through the stretch.

“A win would be awesome,” he said.

This will be the longest start for Grecian Fire, a gelding by Unusual Heat who is out of a dam by Kitten’s Joy. The pedigree suggests stamina.

“A mile and a quarter will not be a problem,” trainer Keith Desormeaux said.

D’Amato has three runners, including Cleopatra’s Strike, who was second by a nose in the San Gabriel Stakes here in January.

“I think he’s classy enough to fit with these horses,” D’Amato said.

◗ Saturday’s fourth stakes on an 11-race program is the $75,000 Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, a new distance at Santa Anita. The track is not running sprints at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course this fall after a fatal accident in March.

Holly Hundy, a stakes winner at Colonial Downs earlier this month, is part of a field of 12 in the Unzip Me.