Beyond Brilliant gets more ground in Charles Whittingham Stakes

In November, Beyond Brilliant was allowed to gallop alone on the lead in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar and proved impossible to catch in the turf race at 1 1/8 miles.

Beyond Brilliant was not as successful in two graded stakes at a mile in December and March, leading through quicker paces, but yielding the lead in the final furlong.

A return to a longer stakes in Saturday’s Grade 2 Charles Whittingham at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita has left trainer John Shirreffs optimistic that Beyond Brilliant can beat older horses for the first time.

“A mile was short for him,” Shirreffs said. “He’s got speed, but he doesn’t have sprinter speed.

“If he can clip along at a nice comfortable pace, it will be beneficial.”

Shirreffs may get his wish in the $225,000 Whittingham Stakes, which drew a field of seven and is the 11th race on a 12-race program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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Owned by Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stables, Beyond Brilliant drew the outside post and will be ridden by Victor Espinoza, who was aboard the colt for the first time for a fourth-place finish by a length in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf March 5.

A possible threat to Beyond Brilliant’s role as a pacesetter may be Masteroffoxhounds, who set the pace in an allowance race at a mile on turf March 25 and finished second to Vanzzy in his first start since August.

The allowance race was the first time Masteroffoxhounds had set the pace since he arrived from Ireland in the summer of 2020. Masteroffoxhounds is well-suited to 1 1/4 miles, having won the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at that distance on turf in February 2021.

The Whittingham is the second stakes appearance of the year for Dicey Mo Chara, a 4-year-old gelding who was second by a half-length in the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf March 12. Dicey Mo Chara was unable to catch Acclimate, who led throughout.

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Last November, Dicey Mo Chara was 12th of 14 in the Hollywood Derby in his stakes debut after a slow start. Trained by Leonard Powell, Dicey Mo Chara won his first start this year in an allowance race at 1 1/8 miles in February, his third win since July.

“He won at 1 1/8 miles and was second at 1 1/2 miles,” Powell said. “Hopefully, he will hit the bull’s-eye at 1 1/4 miles.”

Powell is hoping Beyond Brilliant, Masteroffoxhounds, and perhaps the allowance runner Gregdar ensure a quick pace to help Dicey Mo Chara’s late charge.

“They probably will go a lot faster than they did last time,” he said.

The same scenario will help Majestic Eagle, a minor stakes winner at Turf Paradise in January for trainer Neil Drysdale. Majestic Eagle tends to run as a stalker.