Big City Lights staying humble after Cary Grant victory
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DEL MAR, Calif. – Big City Lights, runaway winner of the Cary Grant Stakes for California-bred sprinters Nov. 9 at Del Mar, will stay with California-bred company for his next start. Trainer Richard Mandella said Big City Lights will target the $150,000 Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint tentatively scheduled for Jan. 11 at Santa Anita.
The Cary Grant was Big City Lights’s fourth stakes win, and sixth win overall. A 5-year-old, Big City Lights has started only 12 times.
“He’s had some things happen to him,” Mandella said while being vague about the gaps between races. “But he still performs pretty well.”
His most recent win was the most decisive of his career, which includes four runner-up finishes behind The Chosen Vron in statebred stakes. The Chosen Vron, who won the Cary Grant in 2022 and 2023, is out until spring, leaving Big City Lights as the top California-bred sprinter.
It is only conjecture to speculate who would have won the 2024 Cary Grant if both The Chosen Vron and Big City Lights ran. The Chosen Vron has never finished behind Big City Lights, though Mandella is right about the 8 1/2-length Cary Grant win by Big City Lights.
“Anybody would have had trouble beating [Big City Lights] that day,” Mandella said.
Big City Lights, by Mr. Big, is owned by William Peeples.
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