Hollywood Park notes: Bright Thought targets rebound in Citation Handicap

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Bright Thought made his first start after a seven-month layoff in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. He finished last of 10, never racing closer than fourth and fading through the final furlong.

“Do I regret it?” trainer Jorge Gutierrez said Tuesday. “Absolutely. The good thing is he came out of it in good shape.”

Bright Thought won the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on turf at Santa Anita in March, his fourth consecutive win. A 4-year-old ridgling, Bright Thought will race again at the Grade 2 level in Friday’s $250,000 Citation Handicap over 1 1/16 miles on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park.

The race drew a field of eight, with two other runners from the BC Mile – Silentio, who was third by 1 1/2 lengths to Wise Dan, and He Be Fire N Ice, who was eighth.

Another contender in the Citation is Winning Prize, a Group 1 winner in Argentina in 2012 who was fourth to Silver Max in the Grade 2 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 5, a race moved to the Polytrack synthetic surface because of wet conditions.

Bright Thought was sidelined with a stifle injury earlier this year. Gutierrez began planning for a start in the BC Mile in early fall. After the disappointing race, Gutierrez said he gave Bright Thought additional time to recover earlier this month.

“I gave him an extra week because he was so tired,” he said. “He got a few extra days of walking.”

Owned by Alex Venneri and Marjorie Dye, Bright Thought has won 4 of 8 starts and earned $164,500. He typically races near the front and is likely to set the pace in the Citation.

“I think he’ll be right up there in front,” Gutierrez said. “That’s where he wants to run. I think he’ll be able to settle and hopefully he can have something at the end. The pace won’t be as fast as in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Craftsman waits for CashCall

The Citation is the first of five races in the track’s autumn turf festival. The highlights are two Grade 1 races worth $250,000 on Sunday – the Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares over a mile and the Hollywood Derby over 1 1/4 miles.

Saturday’s stakes are two $100,000 races for 2-year-olds over a mile – the Generous Stakes and the Miesque Stakes for fillies.

The Generous Stakes field will not include Craftsman, a recent private purchase by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Previously trained by Aidan O’Brien in Ireland, Craftsman won the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes over seven furlongs at Leopardstown, Ireland, in his fourth career start Oct. 26.

New trainer Simon Callaghan said the $750,000 CashCall Futurity over 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 14 on the synthetic main track is a goal for Craftsman.

“We’ve decided we’d wait,” he said. “He in good condition and galloping, but we decided to take a more patient approach. We’ll consider the CashCall Futurity.”

Aotearoa, winner of the Zuma Beach Stakes over a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 6, is the only other turf stakes winner nominated to the Generous. Trained by Leonard Powell, Aotearoa was seventh in the BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 1.

Allowance draws deep cast

The rest of the 2013 season has been planned for Pure Loyalty, a 3-year-old colt trained by Mark Glatt for Norman Stables.

Pure Loyalty will start in Thursday’s seventh race at Hollywood Park, a $56,000 allowance race on turf that will serve as a prep for the $200,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes over a mile on turf for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

Pure Loyalty has placed in two stakes this year, including a third in the Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 10. After a sixth in a division of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 1, Pure Loyalty was given a break before returning to win an optional claimer on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

“He ran three times at Del Mar, so I backed off a little bit,” Glatt said. “I think he’s a good flat mile horse and those horses run well down the hill.”

Thursday’s one-mile turf race drew a solid field, including the stakes winners Avare, Den’s Legacy, Dry Summer, Fury Kapcori, Just Win Baby, Outside Nashville, Procurement, and Rosengold. Only Pure Loyalty and China Prince, an allowance race winner at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8, have not won stakes.

It will not be a surprise if several of Thursday’s entrants reappear at Santa Anita in the Sir Beaufort.

“It looks like it could be a 4-1 or 9-2 [favorite] kind of race,” Glatt said. “I don’t think there is a clear favorite.”