If Brickyard Ride runs his race, the rest are running for second in California Cup Sprint.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A reasonable person could argue that Brickyard Ride’s comeback in the $150,000 California Cup Sprint is the most significant race Saturday at Santa Anita.
Yes, the pressure is on the graded stakes winner. Brickyard Ride enters the six-furlong California Cup Sprint, race 9, as the likely pacesetter, with the highest figures, as the class of the field. Sounds like a slam dunk, right?
However, Brickyard Ride has not raced in more than four months and often is a step slow from the gate. He typically needs a few strides to hit high gear. But last season when he reached top speed he often dazzled.
Brickyard Ride starts over Saturday in the same race that put him on the map in 2021. The California Cup Sprint was his first of three sprint stakes wins, followed by a blowout in the Grade 2 San Carlos and a 104-Beyer Speed Figure scorcher in the Thor’s Echo.
Trainer Craig Lewis was asked what he has seen from Brickyard Ride in training this winter.
“He’s still fast, that’s what I saw,” Lewis said. “If they let him go, they aren’t going to win. If they go with him, they aren’t going to win.”
“They” refers to seven rivals relegated to supporting roles. They include California-bred stakes winners Loud Mouth, Positivity, and Principe Carlo, and stakes-placed Colt Fiction, and Letsgetlucky.
Positivity, Colt Fiction, and Letsgetlucky could offer challenges, but the race centers on Brickyard Ride, who is making his first start since August. His rise to prominence last spring at Santa Anita preceded a summer decline at Del Mar.
“We ran into some bad luck at Del Mar,” Lewis said.
It was an understatement. Brickyard Ride stumbled at the break and finished fifth in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby. Next out, he ran off when his gate door opened before the start of the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien. He was reloaded, and finished last. Lewis and owner-breeder Sonny Pais had seen enough.
“We figured the racing gods were telling us something,” Lewis said. “We decided to give him a breather and maybe have a nice 2022 campaign.”
Brickyard Ride, a 5-year-old by Clubhouse Ride, has won six races and $470,977 from 18 starts. Brickyard Ride is sometimes a step slow his first couple strides. Chances are, it will not matter. Juan Hernandez rides Brickyard Ride, who should be long gone as a potential single in the mandatory-payout pick six on races 5-10.
Positivity, a stakes winner at 2, has returned to form after being claimed for $50,000 last summer. Now trained by Doug O’Neill, Positivity was a reclaim by former owner Chad Calvert, who had sold Positivity privately at 2. Positivity, an allowance winner two starts back and second in a stake race last out, will be ridden by Flavien Prat.
Colt Fiction, third behind Positivity in the Cary Grant last out, drew outside. He is trained by Bill Spawr. John Velazquez worked him last weekend and rides him Saturday.