McCarthy stable gearing up for Santa Anita's opening weekend

The Del Mar summer meeting ended more than two weeks ago, just as trainer Michael McCarthy’s stable was showing strength. He won seven races at the 36-day meeting, finishing tied for 10th in the trainers’ standings.

McCarthy won three fewer races this summer at Del Mar than he did in 2017 but finished the recent meeting with five wins from his last 20 runners in the final month of the season.

“We started off a little quiet,” he said. “We won better races and more quality races this summer. That’s the objective.”

McCarthy is optimistic that the opening weekend of the Santa Anita fall meeting Sept. 28-30 will begin in the same fashion.

On Wednesday, McCarthy said he plans to have runners in two Grade 1 races on Sept. 29 at Santa Anita. The Lieutenant is a candidate for the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, the meeting’s top race for older horses. Vibrance, and perhaps Lady Dude, will start the same day in the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

On Sept. 30, Liam the Charmer is scheduled to run in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles.

One notable absence will be City of Light, the stable’s leading runner this year who won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap in April and was second as an odds-on favorite in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at seven furlongs Aug. 25 at Saratoga. McCarthy reiterated Wednesday that City of Light will be trained toward the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs and will be cross-entered in the BC Classic the same day, a plan he mentioned in late August.

City of Light is the only horse to beat Accelerate this year. Accelerate, second in the Oaklawn Handicap, is a leading contender for the BC Classic on the strength of three Grade 1 wins at 1 1/4 miles this year.

The Lieutenant won the Grade 3 All American Stakes at Golden Gate Fields in May and was sixth behind Accelerate in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 18 at Del Mar.

Of his runners on Sept. 29, McCarthy rates Vibrance as a filly with notable potential. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Jim and Donna Daniell, Vibrance won her second start in a maiden special weight race at a mile by five lengths Aug. 29 at Del Mar.

“I thought she won pretty impressively in her second start,” McCarthy said.

The Chandelier Stakes, a key prep for the BC Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 2, is led by Bellafina, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 1.

Lady Dude, who won a maiden special weight race in her California debut at 6 1/2 furlongs Sept. 2, could run in the Chandelier or the $75,000 Anoakia Stakes at six furlongs Oct. 14, McCarthy said.