Cautious Giant, Hi Happy join field for Santa Anita Handicap

ARCADIA, Calif. – The list of contenders for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap next Saturday has grown to include a horse claimed for $62,500 on Thursday and a Group 1 winner from South America.

Cautious Giant, third in two graded stakes for sprinters in 2016, will start as a pacesetter for stablemate Imperative, new owner Ron Paolucci said on Saturday. Cautious Giant was claimed for $62,500 on Thursday from an optional claimer at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course.

Hi Happy, a four-time Group 1 stakes winner in Argentina in 2015, will start in his first American Grade 1 race in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap, trainer Felipe Souza said.

“The owner wants to see the horse on dirt,” Souza said.

Owned by La Providencia LLC, Hi Happy was seventh in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 26 in his American debut and fourth, beaten 2 1/2 lengths, in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes on turf here Feb. 4.

A 5-year-old, Hi Happy was the 2015 Argentine Horse of the Year after winning the Group 1 Carlos Pellegrini Stakes on turf. The Pellegrini, run at 1 1/2 miles, is South America’s leading race for older horses.

Cautious Giant and Hi Happy are part of a prospective field of 10 in the Big Cap, which is run at 1 1/4 miles.

The other probable starters are Follow Me Crev, Gangster, Hard Aces, Isotherm, Midnight Storm, Shaman Ghost, and Twentytwentyvision. Trainer Richard Mandella emphasized on Saturday that Twentytwentyvision could start in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes on turf March 25 instead.

Midnight Storm and Shaman Ghost lead the field. Midnight Storm, third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile on turf in November, has won consecutive starts in stakes on dirt – the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar on Nov. 27 and the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/16 miles here on Jan. 1.

Shaman Ghost won the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga last September, his fourth career stakes win. Trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Frank Stronach, Shaman Ghost was second to leading older horse Arrogate in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. Arrogate is the future-book favorite for the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 25 and will skip the Big Cap.

Midnight Storm led throughout his two recent stakes wins, and the presence of Cautious Giant in the field could change the dynamic of the race. Paolucci insisted that Cautious Giant is not in the field to serve as a foil for Midnight Storm but to give Imperative a target. Imperative won the $400,000 Poseidon Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28.

Cautious Giant was scheduled to be supplemented to the Big Cap for $15,000 on Saturday, Paolucci said.

“My horse, Imperative, needs a pace to run at,” Paolucci said. “He’s not there to take anyone out of their game. It’s so my horse doesn’t have to run up on heels.”

On Thursday, Cautious Giant was beaten a head by Calculator after setting the pace to the final strides.

“I loved his race,” Paolucci said. “I like him going longer.”

Last year, Cautious Giant won an optional claimer at six furlongs and was third in two Grade 2 races – the Palos Verdes at six furlongs in February and the Kona Gold Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs in May – when trained by Kristin Mulhall.

Four candidates worked on Saturday for the Big Cap.

Imperative worked a half-mile in 52.50 seconds on the training track at Santa Anita. Imperative and Cautious Giant are trained by Bob Hess Jr.

Isotherm, the winner of the San Marcos Stakes, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 under jockey Flavien Prat, who will have the mount. Prat is the leading rider at the winter-spring meeting.

Follow Me Crev, the winner of an optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 20, worked six furlongs in 1:14.60. The Big Cap will be Follow Me Crev’s debut in a Grade 1.

Shaman Ghost worked five furlongs in 1:00 at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said in a text message that Shaman Ghost galloped out six furlongs in 1:13. Javier Castellano will ride Shaman Ghost in the Big Cap.