Follow Me Crev looks to step up in Californian

ARCADIA, Calif. - By several standards, Follow Me Crev ran the best race of his career when third in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 11.

It was his best finish in a graded stakes. He earned $85,000, the biggest payday of his career, and was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 101, another career best in his 20 starts.

Follow Me Crev did all that despite not being in peak condition, trainer Vladimir Cerin said. The Santa Anita Handicap was Follow Me Crev’s second start of the year, preceded by a win in an optional claimer Feb. 20.

“He really wasn’t ready to do that off of one race in less than three weeks,” Cerin said.

Follow Me Crev can reach a new set of milestones if he wins Saturday’s Grade 2 Californian Stakes, a $200,000 race at 1 1/8 miles. The winner’s share is $120,000 and the race could be Follow Me Crev’s first stakes win.

Cerin is cautious, though. He is concerned the distance of the Californian may be shorter than Follow Me Crev’s best, which Cerin says is 1 1/2 miles.
“I don’t know how good he is,” Cerin said. “It takes him awhile to get going and then you can’t stop him. He’s training well.”

Follow Me Crev’s chances will be helped by a weak field. Shaman Ghost and Midnight Storm, the first two finishers of the Big Cap, are not part of the Californian field. Midnight Storm finished third in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas on Saturday.

Arrogate, the leading older horse in the nation, is in light training at Santa Anita after his win in the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 25.

The candidates for the Californian include Prime Attraction and Prospect Park, recent winners of optional claimers.

Trainer Bob Baffert has five nominees – the stakes winners American Freedom, Cat Burglar, Collected, Cupid, and Mor Spirit – and said on Sunday that some will run in the Californian, while others will be considered for the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in West Virginia, also on Saturday.

The Californian is a prep for the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, a $500,000 race at 1 1/4 miles May 27. Midnight Storm will have his next start in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, trainer Phil D’Amato said Sunday.

Saturday’s program includes the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes, a $100,000 race at about 1 3/4 miles on turf. The field is led by Syntax, who was second in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf March 25.