Big Macher seeks repeat in Cary Grant
DEL MAR, Calif. – Before his career transformation from sprints to routes, Grade 1 winner Big Macher will stop in at Del Mar on Sunday for a confidence builder.
The $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes is a familiar target. “This is an obvious spot,” trainer Richard Baltas, said. “He won this race last year.”
Big Macher enters the seven-furlong stakes for California-breds with the same pattern as a year ago – unplaced in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. In 2014, his alibi for finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup was a bad start. In 2015 at Keeneland, his alibi for finishing 10th is less clear.
“He broke sharp, which was his problem, then [Joel Rosario] let him fall back out of the race,” Baltas said. “He needs to be more in the race.”
Big Macher raced near the back, was never involved, and finished seven lengths behind the winner, Runhappy. Baltas believes Big Macher will return to form Sunday. “He’s healthy, he’s doing good,” he said. He also is the class of the field.
Big Macher has won 7 of 18 starts, earned $684,038, and won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, Grade 2 Potrero Grande, and three restricted stakes. His best season was 2014, when he won four races and $482,250. This year, he is 1 for 4 with earnings of $130,360.
“I don’t know if he has lost a step or not,” Baltas said. Based on a romp in a restricted stakes at Del Mar in September, the 5-year-old gelding is still good around one turn. Baltas has a new challenge planned for 2016.
“I’m thinking about trying to stretch him out,” Baltas said. “I might try him a mile. I’ve always wanted to do that. And I might try him on turf.”
First things first: Big Macher is favored Sunday over 10 rivals in the Cary Grant, previously run as the On Trust Stakes during the fall meet at Hollywood Park. His rivals include the first-time dirt starter Forest Chatter, stakes winners Soi Phet and Raised a Secret, and four trained by Peter Miller: stakes winners Red Outlaw and Richard’s Boy and route-to-sprint allowance runners Got Even and Solid Wager.
KEY CONTENDERS
Big Macher (Last 3 Beyers: 90-98-78)
◗ Rafael Bejarano, who rode Wild Dude to a sixth-place finish in the BC Sprint, is back aboard Big Macher. The last three times Bejarano rode Big Macher, he won stakes.
◗ Big Macher should tuck into a comfortable trip just off the speed. All nine races at this meet at seven furlongs have been won by horses within 2 1/2 lengths of the lead after the first quarter-mile.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Big Macher. Trainer Richard Baltas is 40-15-4-6 with a $2.76 ROI over the past six months in dirt sprints at Del Mar. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Forest Chatter (Last 3 Beyers: 92-90-91)
◗ Forest Chatter is 5 for 10, including a win in a California-bred stakes last out. All five wins were on the Santa Anita hill; nine of his 10 starts have been on grass, the other being his career debut on Polytrack.
◗ Richard Mandella trains Forest Chatter, a gelding sired by Dixie Chatter with fast workouts on dirt. Mike Smith is his rider.
Solid Wager (Last 3 Beyers: 85-79-90)
◗ Solid Wager is the only closer among Miller’s four entrants. The 5-for-23 gelding is likely to trail early and rally late. Victor Espinoza is his rider.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Solid Wager and No. 3 Got Even. Trainer Peter Miller is 70-14-7-12 with a $5.31 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint on dirt in Southern California. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Richard’s Boy (Last 3 Beyers: 98-83-91)
◗ A 6-for-10 gelding who is the leading earner by his sire, Idiot Proof, Richard’s Boy wheels back 10 days after winning an optional-claiming turf sprint. Joe Talamo rides.