Final Boss has speed to control Cinema Stakes

Final Boss took the lead shortly after the start of an allowance race at 1 1/8 miles on turf on May 12 at Santa Anita and stayed in front throughout, beating four opponents by 1 1/4 lengths.

The same scenario could develop for Final Boss against four different rivals in Sunday’s $100,000 Cinema Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita.

Final Boss is expected to set the pace in a field that lacks another clear front-runner.

“He found himself on the front the other day and he ran really well,” trainer John Sadler said Friday. “He looks like he’s on the upgrade.”

Final Boss has won 2 of 6 starts for owners Michael Talla and the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership. Last November, Final Boss won a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf, racing near the front throughout.

By American Pharoah, Final Boss is a colt who has benefited from a “forwardly placed style and a little maturation,” Sadler said.

Final Boss and his four opponents – Blue Eyed George, British Isles, Gold Foot, and Sea Singer – are seeking a first career stakes win in the Cinema, the first of two stakes on Sunday’s 12-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.

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Blue Eyed George was second or third in three consecutive stakes at Turfway Park and Fair Grounds earlier this year before an 11th-place finish in the Grade 2 American Turf on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Sea Singer was seventh of eight in the Grade 3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf last September in his American debut and final start of 2023. Sea Singer was sixth of nine in an allowance race against older horses at a mile on turf May 5 in his lone start this year.

The Cinema is the stakes debut for Gold Foot, who has won two consecutive starter-allowance races at 1 1/8 miles on turf since late April, and for British Isles, who won a maiden race at 1 1/8 miles on turf May 4.

British Isles needed seven races to beat maidens. The colt was trained by Bob Baffert for his first five starts before being transferred to Richard Baltas earlier this year.

British Isles was fitted with blinkers in his first three races and ran without the equipment in his final two starts for Baffert. Baltas added blinkers when British Isles had his first start for him on April 7. British Isles finished a fast-closing second.

“I think he needed to focus a little bit,” Baltas said. “Putting the blinkers back on has helped him a lot. He’s a very strong horse, kind of aggressive. He’s still learning.”

With Final Boss as a target, Baltas expects British Isles to be a factor from just off the pace.

“I don’t think the race is that tough,” he said. “It seems like it’s a good spot.

“With a small field, I don’t think he’ll be that far back.”

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