Crystal Water first on a full menu of Cal-bred stakes at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – It’s not like the stakes gala Saturday at Santa Anita snuck up without warning, even if field size hints otherwise. Based on quantity of races, May 28 is the biggest day of the year for Cal-breds – five stakes short and long, turf and dirt.

“When you have a Cal-bred that you like, you kind of circle those races and hope [your horse] is doing good when those races come up,” trainer Andy Mathis noted.

Jimmy Blue Jeans is doing good. Mathis has shipped the stakes winner from his Golden Gate base to Santa Anita, where the gelding looms large Saturday in the $100,000 Crystal Water. The race 3 turf mile is the first of five stakes, all with small fields.

Only five entered the $100,000 Thor’s Echo. The race 4 sprint includes potential favorite Tigre di Slugo and multiple stakes winner Fashionably Fast. Small fields are typical for the Thor’s Echo, which has had six starters or fewer each year since 2016. This year, the small-field dilemma applied to every category. The five stakes Saturday drew a total of 30 entrants.

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“This is an off year for Cal-breds,” Tigre di Slugo’s trainer Mike Puype said. “The races didn’t come up super tough, any of them.”

Race 5 is the $150,000 Snow Chief Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds. The field includes stakes sprinter Smuggler’s Run, allowance winner Bally’s Charm, and two from Northern California – stakes winner Royal ’n Rando and stakes-placed filly Vincero Grande.

Race 8 is the $150,000 Melair Stakes, a dirt route for 3-year-old fillies with stakes sprinters Big Switch, Rose Maddox, and Youteyourhonor. Race 9, the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine, includes Alice Marble. She has never run long, but the stakes winner enters as the class of the filly-mare field with expectations she can carry her speed a mile on turf. Below is a closer look at the five races.

Crystal Water, race 3

Jimmy Blue Jeans, who won the Snow Chief last year as a 3-year-old, seeks his first stakes win as an older horse while dropping out of the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile. He set the pace to deep stretch before he tired and finished ninth. He actually ran well.

“He went quick, and the course was not really favoring speed,” Mathis said. “It was a good effort.”

Jimmy Blue Jeans set the pace in all three of his starts this year, including an allowance win two back, but he could be positioned just off the pace Saturday.

Front-running sprinter Hail Freedom and dirt speed horse Loud Mouth are likely to contest the pace. Irish Heatwave, who scratched from a starter allowance two weeks ago to target the Crystal Water, will rally. Carmelita’s Man and Prodigal Son also entered.

If he rations his speed, Jimmy Blue Jeans and jockey Kyle Frey can win the Crystal Water over late-runners Irish Heatwave and Carmelita’s Man.

Thor’s Echo, race 4

Tigre Di Slugo can be thankful nemesis Brickyard Ride skipped the Thor’s Echo to run Sunday in the Grade 2 Triple Bend. “Brickyard Ride crushed him three times, he’s just a better horse,” Tigre Di Slugo’s trainer Puype said. “I just hope there’s enough speed in there to run at.”

There is enough for Tigre Di Slugo, runner-up last out in a Grade 3 won by Brickyard Ride. Thor’s Echo front-runners include comebacker Good With People, Moose Mitchell, and Fashionably Fast. A six-time stakes winner, Fashionably Fast has worked fast for his first start in two months. He and Tigre Di Slugo are 7-year-olds.

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If the fractions are genuine and the main track fair, Tigre Di Slugo and Frey can win the Thor’s Echo over pace-presser Fashionably Fast and speedster Good With People.

Snow Chief, race 5

Sprint stakes winner Smuggler’s Run is the best horse in the field, but challenged by distance. “I guess the question will be, it’s his first time long,” new trainer John Sadler said. “He’s a good fit in the Cal-bred stakes, and he trains like he’ll go on.”

Smuggler’s Run was transferred to Sadler from trainer Richard Baltas after winning the Echo Eddie Stakes for Cal-bred 3-year-olds last month. A gelding by Straight Fire, Smuggler’s Run is a sibling to three stakes winners, including multiple route winner Grecian Fire. Smuggler’s Run is likely to set the pace, although getting 1 1/8 miles is a tall order.

Bally’s Charm has consistently improved for trainer Jeff Mullins, including a 1:34.12 turf mile last out. Royal ’n Rando won a Cal-bred route stakes last out at Golden Gate, while Mathis-trained upset candidate Vincero Grande meets males at a distance she may like.

Jessica Pyfer rode Bally’s Charm in all six of his starts, and is named to ride Saturday. Bally’s Charm could get a sweet trip positioned second behind the speed, and can win the Snow Chief if he holds off Royal ’n Rando and the filly Vincero Grande.

Melair, race 8

Sadler trained the brilliant undefeated Cal-bred Melair, but he has not won the race named in honor of the filly. That would change for Sadler if Big Switch returns to form following two subpar efforts, and if she carries her speed in her first try around two turns. It’s a lot to ask.

Big Switch “did not run good down the hill, but I think she’s better on dirt,” Sadler said. “And I don’t think it’s a tough race.”

It is not. The juvenile stakes form of Big Switch qualifies her for a win.

Rose Maddox, a Grazen filly whose owner-breeder Nick Alexander won the Melair three of the past six years, stretches back to two turns off a sprint prep. Steve Miyadi trains Rose Maddox. Youteyourhonor has won 4 of 7, all for trainer Cliff Sise. Everlys Girl and It’s Simple add speed.

Rose Maddox, another live mount for Frey, can upset the Melair if Big Switch does not stay 1 1/16 miles.

Fran’s Valentine, race 9

Turf sprinter Alice Marble, runner-up last out in the Grade 2 Monrovia, is another Saturday stretch-out. Can she run a mile on turf?

“I think so,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “When [Flavien] Prat used to ride her, he always thought she could go two turns. It just so happened one sprint after another came up.”

Juan Hernandez rides Alice Marble, who might be the speed of the Fran’s Valentine. If she gets comfortable and holds off 2021 Melair winner Fi Fi Pharoah and stakes winner Pulpit Rider, Alice Marble could be long gone as the most probable winner on the card, in the final race of the day.