Jockey Fresu notches eighth stakes win of meet as Missed the Cut takes San Luis Rey

ARCADIA, Calif. - Missed the Cut gave jockey Antonio Fresu his eighth stakes win of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes for turf marathoners in the first time the veteran rider was aboard the well-traveled 5-year-old.

Facing only four rivals in the $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes, Missed the Cut stalked the pace for the first mile, dropped back to be a close fourth on the turn and rallied wide to reach contention in early stretch.

Sent off favored, Missed the Cut ($4) caught 6-5 Planetario in the final furlong to win by 1 1/4 lengths over that rival, finishing 1 1/2 miles in 2:26.98. Missed the Cut earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98. The turf course was listed as good after late-morning rain.

“When we got into the stretch, he put it in a different gear,” Fresu said.

Planetario, the winner of the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar in November, finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of Offlee Naughty, who won the 2023 San Luis Rey Stakes and had his first start on Saturday since early October.

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Balladeer, who set an early pace of 24.45 seconds and 48.66 for a half-mile, faded to finish fourth at 6-1, beating 43-1 Resultant.

Missed the Cut, by Quality Road, and Planetario were first and second in the Grade 3 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Feb. 10.

Fresu began riding in California last April. Through Saturday, he ranked second in stakes wins for the current meeting, three behind leader Flavien Prat. The meeting began on Dec. 26.

The San Marcos and San Luis Rey wins represented the first time that Missed the Cut compiled consecutive wins since he joined trainer John Sadler’s stable in early 2023.

Owned by the partnership of Bee Zee LLC, Lanes End Racing, St. Elias Stables, Edward Babington and Edward and Lynne Hudson, Missed the Cut has won 7 of 15 starts and earned $445,777, racing in Europe, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

In 2023, Missed the Cut started four times on dirt in California with mixed results. He won the Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup at 1 1/2 miles last October, but was last of 12 behind White Abarrio in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita last November in his most recent start on that surface.

Missed the Cut has made eight starts for Sadler.

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