Edwards Going Left eyes California Cup Sprint repeat

ARCADIA, Calif. – The plan began in earnest in November to target a stakes on a Saturday in late January. There would be no need for a prep race; the horse’s form was more than satisfactory.

That was the idea Pete and Kosta Hronis and trainer John Sadler launched for Edwards Going Left, who will break from the rail in Saturday’s $150,000 California Cup Sprint for statebreds at six furlongs at Santa Anita.

It is also the plan with Accelerate, owned by the Hronis brothers and trained by Sadler. The winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November, Accelerate will start favored in Saturday’s $9 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park. The Hronis family and Sadler will be at Gulfstream Park Saturday.

Edwards Going Left won the 2018 California Cup Sprint.

“We’ve been waiting for this race,” Sadler said last weekend before departing for Florida.

Edwards Going Left is one of four stakes winners in a field of six. Shades of Victory won the E.B. Johnston Stakes for California-bred milers on dirt at Los Alamitos in an 80-1 upset last September. Heck Yeah won three stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds last year, but has not started since April. Richard’s Boy has won four stakes, including the 2017 California Cup Sprint.

KEY CONTENDERS

Edwards Going Left, by Midnight Lute
Last 3 Beyers: 85-94-95

◗ Edwards Going Left has not started since finishing second to Solid Wager in the Cary Grant Stakes for California-breds at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 18. Last Saturday, Solid Wager won the Grade 3 Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct.

◗ Edwards Going Left is winless in five starts since the 2018 California Cup Sprint, three of which were Grade 1 sprints in Southern California. Edwards Going Left’s best finish in those races was a third in the Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs last March.

◗ Edwards Going Left, who will be ridden by Tyler Baze, is expected to race as a stalker. Sadler was left impressed when Edwards Going Left worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds last Sunday, the second-fastest of 140 works at the distance.

“This is not a fast track, and he worked well,” Sadler said that morning.

Richard’s Boy, by Idiot Proof
Last 3 Beyers: 99-51-90

◗ Richard’s Boy is winless in 13 starts since winning the Jim McKay Turf Sprint at Pimlico in May 2017. A 7-year-old gelding, Richard’s Boy has been second or third in eight subsequent starts, including a second by a head to stablemate Stormy Liberal in the BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November 2017.

◗ Trained by Peter Miller, Richard’s Boy is expected to set the pace, but could be challenged early by Heck Yeah, a 4-year-old colt who will start for the first time outside of his age group.