Look for improvement from Cabo Spirit in Frank Kilroe Mile
Cabo Spirit ran 10 times last year and won three stakes, all in California and all for 3-year-olds.
The busy campaign was the prologue to a tougher season in 2023. Age-restricted races are gone, replaced by competition against tougher older horses.
On the Southern California circuit, few wintertime races are as competitive as Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf at Santa Anita. The Kilroe Mile will be Cabo Spirit’s second start of the year, preceded by a sixth-place finish in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 4.
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Cabo Spirit is a longshot in a field of nine in the Kilroe, but should not be underestimated, trainer George Papaprodromou said.
“He was kind of far back and he had too much to do,” Papaprodromou said of Cabo Spirit’s race in the Thunder Road.
Owned by Rustin Kretz, Cabo Spirit closed from last of 11 in the final furlong to finish 2 1/4 lengths behind winner Earls Rock in his first start since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Dec. 3.
“I think he needed the race, coming off a little layoff,” Papaprodromou said.
Joe Bravo has ridden Cabo Spirit eight times, including in wins in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar last August and the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita in October.
Bravo has the mount on Cabo Spirit in the Frank Kilroe Mile from post 2. In the Thunder Road, Cabo Spirit broke from the outside.
Cabo Spirit, a gelding, has won 4 of 17 starts.
While Earls Rock is not part of the Kilroe field, the race has drawn Hong Kong Harry, a three-time graded stakes winner last year, and the 4-year-old Balnikhov, a two-time stakes winner at a mile last year.
The Kilroe Mile is the 11th race on a 12-race program that includes three other stakes. The final six races make up the 20-cent Rainbow pick six, which has a mandatory payout on Saturday. Track officials are projecting that $3 million in new money will be added to the pool.
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