Familiar names to clash in San Francisco Mile

There may be no superstars among the 27 runners nominated for Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 San Francisco Mile, but there will be plenty of familiar faces in the one-mile turf race.

Pepper Crown and G. G. Ryder, winners of the last two editions, will be back. Among their expected opponents are the much-improved Doc’s Legacy, who has won six of his last nine starts, including his last two, and Alert Bay.

G. G. Ryder, who is at his best at Golden Gate Fields, will return from a three-month freshening that began after he finished last in the California Cup Turf Classic at Santa Anita on Jan. 30.

“He wasn’t training well, so we decided to back off,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

Pepper Crown scored a $94.20 upset in the 2014 San Francisco Mile and was fourth to longtime rival G. G. Ryder last year. Pepper Crown was claimed for $62,500 by trainer Ed Moger Jr. two races back, then ran last when sent to Santa Anita for the Santana Mile. He’ll be back at home and on his preferred turf for Saturday’s race.

Also among the nominees are Bal a Bali, a Triple Crown winner in his native Brazil who ran third in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in his most recent start, and Gabriel Charles, the winner of the Grade 1 Eddie Read last summer at Del Mar. Bal a Bali defeated Gabriel Charles in the Grade 3 American in his U.S. debut last year.