City of Light goes longer in Gold Cup at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – City of Light, winner of three consecutive graded stakes since Christmas, will run as far as 1 1/4 miles for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

Trainer Mike McCarthy considered City of Light for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap, a $1.2 million race June 9 at Belmont Park, but has opted for the $500,000 Gold Cup.

“He can walk right out of his own stall and into the paddock,” McCarthy said. “He’s had some good works, and I’m pleased with his attitude.”

City of Light has won two Grade 1 races at seven furlongs in recent months at Santa Anita – the Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds on Dec. 26 and the Triple Bend Stakes against older horses March 10.

More recently, City of Light won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on April 14 in his first start around two turns. City of Light finished a neck in front of Accelerate, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 10. Accelerate is scheduled to start in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

City of Light has won 4 of 7 starts and earned $940,600, all for owners Suzanne and William Warren Jr.

The Gold Cup is the richest race of the spring-summer meeting and one of three graded stakes on Saturday’s program. Aside from City of Light and Accelerate, the Gold Cup field is likely to include Dr. Dorr, winner of the Grade 2 Californian Stakes by 7 1/4 lengths on April 27, as well as Full of Luck, Pavel, and Prince of Arabia.

Full of Luck also was entered in Saturday’s Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes on turf. He must be committed to one of the races by Friday morning, Santa Anita racing officials said. Full of Luck was fourth in the Californian and won seven stakes on turf in Chile in 2016 and 2017.

Saturday’s Grade 1 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares will include two stakes-winning shippers – Hawksmoor, trained by Arnaud Delacour, and Uni, trained by Chad Brown. The $300,000 Gamely Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

Hawksmoor, second in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar last November, won two consecutive graded stakes on turf in New York last spring – the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes and Grade 2 New York Stakes. A 5-year-old owned by Lael Stables, Hawksmoor was second by a nose at 3-10 in the Dahlia Stakes at a mile on turf April 21 at Laurel in her first start of 2018.

“She was probably a little short,” Delacour said Wednesday. “She came back and her first breeze was really good.”

Based in Maryland, Hawksmoor worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at the Fair Hill Training Center on May 6.

Uni won the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Belmont last September and her only start this year, the Plenty of Grace Stakes on April 14 at Aqueduct.

The locally based runners expected to start in the Gamely are the stakes winners Beau Recall, Madam Dancealot, Madame Stripes, Midnight Crossing, and Mopotism as well as the stakes-placed Sophie P.

Beau Recall won the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at a mile April 7, with Madame Stripes third and Sophie P sixth in her American debut.

The $200,000 Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf will be a distance test for What a View, a multiple stakes winner on turf at a mile and 1 1/8 miles. What a View won the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on April 21 for his first win of 2018 in his third start this year.

The Whittingham is expected to be led by Itsinthepost, who won three straight graded stakes here from early January to late March before finishing third by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland last month.

Other expected starters are Flamboyant, Frank Conversation, Kenjisstorm, Ritzy A.P., and Syntax.