Big City Lights to start in Palos Verdes Stakes with eye on Golden Shaheen Sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. - Big City Lights, the dazzling winner of two stakes for California-bred sprinters in November and January, is set to start in Saturday’s Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita in a prep race for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai on April 5.

After Big City Lights won the California Cup Sprint at six furlongs by 7 3/4 lengths, earning a lofty Beyer Speed Figure of 103, trainer Richard Mandella mentioned that the 6-year-old horse may not start again until the $2 million Golden Shaheen at six furlongs.

Mandella on Sunday said that the $100,000 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs became a more viable option after watching Big City Lights train since the California Cup Sprint on Jan. 18.

“He’s doing good,” Mandella said. “Timing-wise, it’s a good fit for Dubai.”

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Owned by Bill Peeples, Big City Lights has won 7 of 13 starts and earned $578,420. A start in the Golden Shaheen would be the first for Big City Lights in a Group 1 or Grade 1 race. The winner of the Palos Verdes Stakes last February, Big City Lights was later second in two Grade 2 races at seven furlongs in Southern California – the Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita in June and the Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar in August.

Big City Lights has not lost since, a two-race winning streak that began with a win by 8 1/2 lengths in the Cary Grant Stakes at seven furlongs for statebreds at Del Mar in November.

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