Since his first Grade 1 win in the 2021 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Country Grammer has won 2 of 8 starts, including the $12 million Dubai World Cup in 2022, and earned more than $14.5 million. Country Grammer has become a leading older horse, but mostly for what he has accomplished abroad. Another win in the $400,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on Monday would boost his domestic standing. The Grade 1 Gold Cup, run at 1 1/4 miles, will be Country Grammer’s first start in the United States since he won the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. Since then, Country Grammer has had mixed results. He finished second for the second consecutive year in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 25, and was seventh in the Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on March 25. Country Grammer faded from contention in the final quarter-mile under jockey Frankie Dettori. “Dettori said he seemed flat,” trainer Bob Baffert said on Friday. “He didn’t bring his ‘A’ game.” :: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  A post-race examination revealed a presence of mucus, according to a report issued Meydan stewards. The Hollywood Gold Cup is worth a fraction of the races in the Middle East, but still has ample meaning as the major races of the summer draw closer. Baffert has won the race eight times and is tied on the all-time list with the late Charles Whittingham. Country Grammer will start from the rail in a field of six and will be ridden by Flavien Prat, who was aboard for the 2021 Gold Cup win and a second-place finish in the 2022 Saudi Cup. Country Grammer and stablemate Defunded are the only Grade 1 winners in the Gold Cup field, the third and final Grade 1 race on Monday’s program. The Gold Cup is part of the 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six, which will have a mandatory payout on Monday. Country Grammer has had five workouts at Santa Anita in the last five weeks, including six furlongs in 1:12.60 from the gate on May 14. “He’s been doing really well,” Baffert said. While Country Grammer has a proven record at 1 1/4 miles, Defunded has run at the distance only twice. He was third by three-quarters of a length to Stilleto Boy in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 4 as the 6-5 favorite, and second in last year’s Gold Cup. Defunded was a three-length winner at 1-5 in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on April 22. Defunded, a 5-year-old gelding who has won three stakes, typically sets the pace or races near the front, but he hopped at the start of the Californian and closed from last of six to take the lead in the stretch. “He can’t break like that again,” Baffert said. “Hopefully he doesn’t miss the break.” With a good start, Defunded is likely to lead the Gold Cup field. The others in the field include stakes winners Kiss Today Goodbye, Senor Buscador, and Yes This Time. Piroli, who had a three-race winning streak end with a third-place finish in an allowance race at a mile on May 13, completes the field. Kiss Today Goodbye, winless in nine starts since winning the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes in December 2020, was fourth in the Californian at 27-1. Yes This Time has been second in his last two starts, which came in allowances on turf in which he was eligible to be claimed for $80,000. Senor Buscador won the Grade 3 Ack Ack Stakes at a mile at Churchill Downs last September and was later eighth of nine in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland. Earlier this year, Senor Buscador won the Curribot Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Sunland Park on March 5 and was fourth of seven after a wide rally in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on April 22. :: Get Santa Anita Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day.  The Hollywood Gold Cup will be Senor Buscador’s first start at 1 1/4 miles. Trainer Todd Fincher said “it’s hard to say” what Senor Buscador will do at a longer distance. “A mile and a quarter is a completely different race than a mile and an eighth,” Fincher said. “It doesn’t look like there is pace. “We’ll need a good pace. He likes to run at a pace.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.