California Cup Sprint coming up Grade 1 tough

ARCADIA, Calif. – The final Saturday of January will be a showcase for California-breds at Santa Anita. Four stakes for statebreds will be run that day.

The most high-profile stakes will be the $150,000 California Cup Sprint at six furlongs, featuring the Grade 1 runners Edwards Going Left and Masochistic.

Edwards Going Left was second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs Dec. 26. Masochistic, 8, won the Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita in 2015.

Masochistic has not raced since May, when trained by Ron Ellis. Owned by Will Shamlian and Samantha Siegel, Masochistic was sent to trainer Bob Baffert last fall. Masochistic was entered for the Grade 3 Midnight Lute Stakes on Dec. 30, but withdrawn in favor of the Cal Cup Sprint, Baffert said at the time.

Masochistic finished second in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, but was later disqualified after testing positive for a steroid. Ellis is in the midst of a 60-day suspension for the infraction.

The other three stakes on Jan. 27 are the $200,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic at 1 1/8 miles, the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, and the $100,000 California Cup Turf Sprint on the hillside.

Roman taking hardware break

Leading Southern California jockey Evin Roman will miss the Thursday program at Santa Anita with a good excuse.

Roman is bound for Florida early next week, and on Thursday he is expected to win the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding apprentice jockey of 2017.

Roman is scheduled to travel back to California for Friday’s program at Santa Anita, according to his agent, Tony Matos.

Through Monday, Roman, 20, was tied for the lead with Rafael Bejarano in the jockey standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting with 14 wins. Last year, Roman won three riding titles at Los Alamitos and tied for the title in the Santa Anita spring-summer meeting.