City of Light to get stamina test in Gold Cup at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – City of Light was a surprising and welcomed addition to the older male division this season in California, but he has more to prove Saturday at Santa Anita.

A mile and one-quarter is uncharted territory for City of Light, the streaking 4-year-old whose performance in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita will determine the direction of his campaign. If he stays the trip, the plan is to follow the money.

“I guess I’d rather be involved in the Breeders’ Cup Classic than be involved in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “One’s six million, one’s one million.”

To get there, City of Light first must prove he can stay the classic distance against top company Saturday, including Grade 1 winner Accelerate and the rapidly improving Dr. Dorr. Those three are the main competitors in the seven-runner Gold Cup, which is race 5.

The card also includes the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham at 1 1/4 miles, race 6, with likely favorite Itsinthepost and upset candidate Syntax. The Grade 1 Gamely for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, race 8, includes shipper Hawksmoor along with locally based Beau Recall.

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City of Light was eligible to the first allowance condition when the winter season began Dec. 26. He blew through his conditions by winning the Malibu and Triple Bend, both Grade 1 races at seven furlongs, followed by the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap at 1 1/8 miles.

Though compromised by a wide trip at Oaklawn in the first route of his career, City of Light won by a neck. Although a wide-trip win at 1 1/8 miles does not ensure success at 1 1/4 miles, it is a good sign. On Saturday, he has to prove it.

“If he shows us that a mile and a quarter isn’t his bag, we can go back to seven-eighths, we can go back to a mile, we can go a mile and a sixteenth,” McCarthy said.

City of Light relaxed comfortably off the pace at Oaklawn, giving McCarthy and jockey Drayden Van Dyke confidence that the Gold Cup’s distance is within reach. As for Accelerate, distance is no concern.

“We know mine can go that far,” trainer John Sadler said.

He is right. When he won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on a wet-fast track, Accelerate earned a 110 Beyer Speed Figure, which matched his previous best in the Pacific Classic at the same distance.

Accelerate, however, does not benefit from the conditions of the Gold Cup; weight is dictated by graded stakes wins at a mile or longer. Accelerate, who has two graded route wins this year, carried three pounds more than City of Light when he lost to that rival at Oaklawn Park. Accelerate carries four pounds (125 to 121) more on Saturday.

The Gold Cup upstart is the Bob Baffert-trained Dr. Dorr, who defeated modest company in his last two starts, including the Grade 2 Californian last out, a race he won by more than seven lengths.

Baffert considered stakes at Lone Star and Belmont Park for Dr. Dorr, but chose to stay home.

“He’s doing so good; he’s really doing good,” Baffert said. “I don’t want to ship – it’s different. I know one thing – Dorr couldn’t be doing any better right now.”

The field also includes Prince of Arabia, Pavel, and Full of Luck. Little Scotty also is expected to run, pending his scratch from an allowance race Thursday.

KEY CONTENDERS

City of Light, by Quality Road
Last 3 Beyers: 107-106-102

◗ Though he sprinted in his first six starts, the plan always was for City of Light to stretch out. “I always thought he would get a distance of ground,” McCarthy said. “But the timing of things, the spacing, it just happened to be [sprints].”

◗ McCarthy considered the Grade 1 Met Mile on June 9 at Belmont for City of Light, but ultimately decided “I like running out of his own stall.”

◗ Seven starts by City of Light have produced four wins and three seconds.

Accelerate, by Lookin At Lucky
Last 3 Beyers: 107-110-101

◗ Accelerate lost as the favorite at Oaklawn, but he ran well while finishing a neck behind City of Light. “They were 10 lengths clear of the third horse,” Sadler said.

◗ Victor Espinoza rides Accelerate, a 5-year-old who has won six races and $1,412,480 from 18 starts.

Dr. Dorr, by Lookin At Lucky
Last 3 Beyers: 108-99-99

◗ Gelded prior to his Dec. 31 comeback, Dr. Dorr enters having won three straight.

◗ The top handicap runners trained by Baffert are on vacation. West Coast will remain in light training in Kentucky, and Baffert expects Collected to return to his Santa Anita base by the end of the month to point for Del Mar.