Local runners chasing rich out-of-town stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – The rebranded spring portion of Santa Anita’s six-month racing season begins Friday with a new moniker – the “Hollywood Meet.” Stars, however, are leaving town.

Local graded winners expected to skip Santa Anita stakes this weekend include Big Cap winner Stilleto Boy, dirt sprinter Spirit of Makena, and turf sprinter Motorious. All will chase richer purses elsewhere, including the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap, a Grade 2 on Saturday at Oaklawn Park that lured Stilleto Boy away from the Grade 2, $200,000 Californian on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Last-out graded winners Spirit of Makena and Motorious will miss $100,000 stakes on reopening weekend – the Grade 3 Kona Gold on Saturday and Siren Lure on turf Sunday. Spirit of Makena will aim to the Grade 1, $750,000 Churchill Downs; Motorious goes to the Grade 2, $500,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint. Both races are May 6, Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs.

Top nominees for Santa Anita stakes include Defunded in the Californian, Brickyard Ride in the Kona Gold, and Air Force Red in the Siren Lure. Meanwhile, the immediate concern is Friday’s nine-race card that includes a promising California-bred whose career is just getting started.

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Old Pal, decisive maiden winner second time out, tops a field of California-bred 3-year-olds racing a mile on turf in the featured seventh race. The entry-level allowance includes trouble-prone Tom and Jazzy, and stretch-out sprinters Boss Sully and Catalina Eddy. Thirsty Pappy, Star Prospect, and Upward Mobility also are entered.

Mark Glatt trains Old Pal, a Grazen colt who was hammered to odds-on in both his starts. He broke slowly and finished second in his turf-sprint debut, then stretched to a mile for his second race and won by more than three lengths.

“He’s only going to get better with more racing,” Glatt said. “I think he’s a very nice horse. He doesn’t have any distance limitations, it doesn’t appear.”

Distance is not a concern on Friday. Old Pal will race the same distance as his maiden win. If he runs well, he is likely to stretch to nine furlongs on turf in the $150,000 Snow Chief Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds on May 28. Old Pal is owned by a partnership that includes Blinkers On Racing Stable. His rider is Juan Hernandez.

Tom and Jazzy finished last as the favorite in his most recent start, with an alibi. A two-turn specialist shortening to one turn, Tom and Jazzy was void of speed, blocked on the turn and through the stretch, then galloped out willingly past the wire. Tom and Jazzy stretches to his preferred two-turn trip Friday for trainer Phil D’Amato and jockey Giovanni Franco.

The fastest runner in the field on numbers is Boss Sully, whose second-start maiden victory earned a field-high 78 Beyer. The challenge for Boss Sully is to reproduce his maiden sprint win while stretching from 5 1/2 furlongs to one mile. Brian Koriner trains Boss Sully, a son of Street Boss whose rider is Hector Berrios. Boss Sully is likely to be pressured by stretch-out sprinter Catalina Eddy.

The Hollywood Meet at Santa Anita runs through June 18.

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