Cabo Spirit aims for upset in Del Mar Mile

Cabo Spirit is not a one-dimensional turf miler.

Though dangerous when allowed to set the pace, Cabo Spirit finished a game third as a stalker in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on May 26. In his lone start this summer, Cabo Spirit set a slow pace in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar on July 27 and nearly pulled off a minor upset at 6-1, finishing second by a length to Formidable Man.

Cabo Spirit, a 6-year-old who has won five stakes in 35 career starts, will run in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile with an outstanding chance for a top-three finish. Once again, Cabo Spirit will race on or near the lead.

“We don’t necessarily have to have him out there,” trainer George Papaprodromou said. “If he gets that easy lead and gets comfortable, I’d like to see that.”

Cabo Spirit set a moderate pace in the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in April and won by three-quarters of a length over King of Gosford, who won the Shoemaker Mile. Formidable Man and King of Gosford are two leading contenders in the $300,000 Del Mar Mile, the track’s richest annual race at the distance on turf.

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Owned by Rustin Kretz, Cabo Spirit has won at distances ranging from a mile to 1 1/4 miles in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at 24-1 last September. As a 3-year-old in 2022, Cabo Spirit won two stakes as a closer - the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar and the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita.

Cabo Spirit has had a more forward style in the last year. In the Del Mar Mile, Cabo Spirit will be ridden by Mike Smith, Papaprodromou said. Smith rode Cabo Spirit in the Kilroe, American, and Eddie Read Stakes.

The Del Mar Mile field will not include two local stakes winners in Astronomer and Goliad, who are bound for Kentucky Downs.

Astronomer is entered in Sunday’s $500,000 Tight Spot Handicap at a mile on turf. Goliad won the 2024 Tight Spot and the Grade 3 Mint Millions Stakes, a one-mile race worth $1.8 million, six days later. This year, Goliad will start only in the $2.5 million Mint Millions on Sept. 6, trainer Richard Mandella said.

“I want to give him his best shot,” Mandella said.

Goliad, 8, worked a mile in 1:39.80 at Del Mar on Tuesday.

The Del Mar Mile is one of five stakes on Saturday, a program led by the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles. The winner of the $1 million Pacific Classic receives a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

The winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf will earn a berth in the BC Turf, while the winner of the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf earns a berth in the BC Turf Sprint.

The program also includes the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile.

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