Cinema attracts its customary small field, but help's on the way

ARCADIA, Calif. – Before the turf program for California 3-year-olds undergoes revision this summer at Del Mar, an unwelcome tradition continues Sunday at Santa Anita, where another small field of 3-year-olds race a mile on turf in the $100,000 Cinema Stakes.

For the sixth time in eight years, the Cinema will be contested by just five runners. Charlie’s Curlin and Bust Out, one-two in a fast allowance race, face Later Than Planned, a sprint stakes winner expected to set the pace. Stakes-placed Iriseach and maiden Go Ralph also are entered.

The Cinema offers minimal wagering appeal, one reason it is positioned early on the card as race 3.

If the 3-year-old turf division has depth, it may emerge this summer at Del Mar. The track raised the purse of the opening-day Oceanside Stakes on July 17 from $100,000 to $150,000 and opened it up. Previously restricted to non-winners of a stakes this year, the Oceanside is now open to all 3-year-olds. Del Mar also scrapped the midseason La Jolla Handicap. The Grade 2, $300,000 Del Mar Derby is Aug. 23.

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In the Cinema on Sunday at Santa Anita, Charlie’s Curlin, the likely favorite, is seeking his third straight win. Jeff Mullins trains Charlie’s Curlin, whose improvement coincided with a jockey switch to Juan Hernandez and the removal of blinkers.

“He’s kind of a funny horse to ride,” Mullins said. “If he gets in a jam and you have to grab him, he tries to pull, he gets bullish, he wants to run over people. If you can get him in a clear-running scenario where you can kind of let go of the reins and let him cruise along without bothering him,” he is more effective.

Hernandez rode Charlie’s Curlin for the first time in a race Feb. 22, but the jockey was already familiar with the colt, having worked him several times.

“He already figured out how to ride him,” Mullins said.

Hernandez suggested Charlie’s Curlin might be better without blinkers. Good call. Charlie’s Curlin, blinkers off, won a maiden race the first time Hernandez rode him. He followed with a neck victory over Bust Out in a relatively fast entry-level allowance April 2. They meet for the second time Sunday.

Bust Out was unproven around two turns when he stretched out in the allowance. He rallied from fourth and missed by a neck while making his first start in more than two months. Bust Out’s splits were classic turf fractions. He finished faster than he started – 24.53 seconds, 24 flat, 23.50, and 23.55.

Michael McCarthy trains Bust Out, a son of Complexity who has won 1 of 4. Emisael Jaramillo rides Bust Out.

The pace of the Cinema is likely to be set by sprinter Later Than Planned, the pace-pressing winner of the John Shear Stakes last month on the hill. Hector Berrios rides Later Than Planned for trainer Phil D’Amato, whose second starter will rally from behind.

Late-runner Iriseach returns to his preferred two-turn trip after finishing fourth in the John Shear. Iriseach previously placed in a pair of turf mile stakes. Antonio Fresu rides.

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