Gold Cup long-range target for Melatonin

Melatonin’s last two starts are proving to trainer David Hofmans that the 5-year-old gelding can play a prominent role in the older horse division this year.

Melatonin won the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 12 and was a game second by a length to Effinex in the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas on April 16.

“I think he might be all right,” Hofmans said.

The primary goal in coming months is the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita at 1 1/4 miles on June 25, over the same track and distance as the Big Cap. The Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita holds appeal as a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5, offering a fees-paid berth to the $5 million autumn classic.

Hofmans said that Melatonin has rebounded well from his race at Oaklawn Park, so much so that a start in the $200,000 Californian Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on May 22 is a possibility.

“I wanted to give him more time off, but he won’t let me,” Hofmans said. “We might have a prep race.”

Owned by Susan Osborne’s Tarabilla Farms, Melatonin, by Kodiak Kowboy, has won 4 of 12 starts and earned $918,552.