Baja Sur going in California Cup Sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. – The four-time stakes winner Baja Sur will have his Southern California debut in the $150,000 California Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Jan. 18, three weeks after the 4-year-old was held out of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.

Trainer Blaine Wright said on Friday he has no regrets passing the Malibu Stakes, which was won convincingly by Omaha Beach under jockey Mike Smith.

“It looked like Mike never moved his hands on him,” Wright said. “I know my horse was good at the time. The object is to win.

“If we had owned the mare or he was a stud colt, we might have taken a shot.”

Omaha Beach is rated as a leading contender for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25.

Baja Sur, who is owned by Peter Redekop, has won 5 of 6 starts and earned $136,800. A Washington-bred gelding by the California-based stallion Smiling Tiger, Baja Sur won the Oakland Stakes at Golden Gate Fields at six furlongs by 4 1/4 lengths on Nov. 16 in his last start. Baja Sur won three stakes earlier in his career at Emerald Downs in Washington.

The California Cup Sprint is run at six furlongs for statebreds and California-sired runners, which is how Baja Sur qualifies.

“I thought this would be a better opportunity for his first race in Southern California,” Wright said.

The Jan. 18 program at Santa Anita has five stakes for statebreds, including three $200,000 races – the California Cup Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf, the California Cup Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles, and the Unusual Heat Turf Classic for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Ashleyluvssugar, winless in 14 starts since the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes here in May 2017, will start in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic. Now 9, Ashleyluvssugar won the corresponding race in 2017 when it was known as the California Cup Turf Classic and was worth $250,000.

The Hunted, who won the Crystal Water Stakes for statebred turf milers last April, is a leading contender for the Unusual Heat Turf Classic on the strength of a sharp win in an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 17.