The Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita on Monday is a chance for redemption for British Isles. A 5-year-old gelding, British Isles delivered the most comprehensive performance of his four-year career with his first stakes win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 7. British Isles followed that 4 1/2-length victory with a sixth-place finish in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland on April 18. He was second on the turn before fading from contention. “I’m not so sure he liked the track at Keeneland,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “I couldn’t find anything wrong with him out of the race. Maybe that track was a little deep for him. The competition was a little tougher.” British Isles faces a modest field in the $200,000 Gold Cup. The 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup drew five, including Subsanador, winner of the Grade 1 California Crown Stakes in September 2024 but fourth in two stakes this year at Santa Anita and Oaklawn Park; Forged Steel and Mc Vay, recent allowance race winners at Oaklawn Park and Santa Anita; and Malarchuk, a lightly raced 5-year-old who was second in the $250,000 Sunland Park Handicap in New Mexico in his stakes debut on April 5. British Isles drew the outside post. :: Santa Anita Classic Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. “He does like this track and he does like the distance,” Baltas said. “This is a logical spot.” British Isles, owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Debby Baltas, and Cynthia McClanahan, is likely to follow Forged Steel and Mc Vay, who are both capable of leading. “There is some speed in the race,” Baltas said. “I think that helps him.” Malarchuk set the pace in the Sunland Park Handicap but finished second to Vodka Vodka, who was second in the Big Cap. Vodka Vodka is not running in the Hollywood Gold Cup because of recent foot issues, trainer Aggie Ordonez said earlier this month. Trainer Michael McCarthy predicts that Malarchuk will be handy for jockey Juan Hernandez in the opening furlongs of the Gold Cup, the longest race of his career. “We won’t take anything way from him that comes easily,” McCarthy said of race tactics. “It’s a small field and a tactical type of race. He acts like a horse that will get a mile and a quarter.” Subsanador’s recent race record does not inspire confidence, but his loss in the Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn on May 2 came with an excuse. Trainer Richard Mandella said a poor start left Subsanador with significant abrasions on his front ankles. “The ground came out from underneath him,” he said. “It healed in a couple of days. It couldn’t have felt good.” Mandella was encouraged by Subsanador’s quick six-furlong workout in 1:11.60 on May 11. In the exercise, Mandella saw flashes of Subsanador’s 2024 form. There is hope Subsanador can repeat his California Crown performance on Monday. “He looked like it the other day when he had his workout,” Mandella said. “I think it will be his best race.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports