Hard Aces, Imperative heading to Charles Town Classic

Hard Aces and Imperative, second and fourth in the Santa Anita Handicap, will ship to West Virginia for the Grade 2, $1.25 million Charles Town Classic on April 23.

The Big Cap runner-up finish by Hard Aces represented a return to form for the John Sadler trainee. Hard Aces won the Grade 1, 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup at Santa Anita in 2015, but was unplaced his next five starts until the Big Cap. Sadler said the timing is right to ship.

“It’s the time of year to go out for one because the next [local stakes] are short,” he said. “Charles Town is what I am looking at, California horses seem to run real well there. So I might go out for one, and then come back for the mile and a quarter here.”

The 2016 Gold Cup is scheduled for June 25 at Santa Anita.

Imperative will be returning to Charles Town. He won the Charles Town Classic in 2014 and finished second in 2015, while trained by George Papaprodomou. The gelding is now trained by Richard Baltas. His fourth-place finish in the Big Cap followed three successive runner-up finishes in graded stakes.