The day after Formidable Man won the most prestigious race of his career in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 1, trainer Michael McCarthy had a springtime plan in mind. Formidable Man would miss big-time races at Keeneland and Churchill Downs in April and May in favor of Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita. If Formidable Man was to play an important role in the national division later this year, McCarthy wanted the 4-year-old colt to have a brief rest. Going into Monday’s $300,000 race, the plan is working. “He’s had a very good freshening,” McCarthy said. “I like what I’m seeing for him. He’s a fresh horse, a happy horse.” Formidable Man, who races for William and Suzanne Warren, needs every advantage possible to beat eight other stakes winners as well as Zio Jo, who was second by a half-length in the Kilroe Mile. In the Kilroe Mile, Formidable Man, a three-time stakes winner against 3-year-olds in the second half of 2024, closed from sixth along the inside to reach the front with a few strides to spare. “I’m hoping for a similar performance on Monday,” McCarthy said. :: Santa Anita Clocker Reports are available every race day. Access now. Umberto Rispoli has been the regular rider of Formidable Man since last summer, a span of four wins in five starts. Rispoli and McCarthy are the jockey-and-trainer team behind Journalism, the winner of the Preakness Stakes on May 17. Three of the other first five finishers in the Kilroe Mile are part of the Shoemaker field. Aside from second-place finisher Zio Jo, Cabo Spirit and Mi Hermano Ramon, who were third and fifth, are also entered on Monday. Cabo Spirit, who will be ridden by Frankie Dettori, is expected to be near the front, along with the three-time stakes winner Goliad, who has not raced since a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar last November. Goliad set the pace to early stretch in the BC Mile and was last of 11 in the 2024 Shoemaker Mile, but he later won two stakes at a mile on turf at Kentucky Downs last September. Cabo Spirit was beaten three-quarters of a length in the Kilroe Mile and returned to win the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on turf on April 20 by leading throughout. Trainer George Papaprodromou is hoping that Cabo Spirit can avoid a speed duel on Monday. “I know Goliad is sort of a run-off horse,” he said. “If he’s faster than us, we’ll see what happens. I’ll leave it to Frankie.” A wicked pace would suit closers such as Atitlan, who won the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on May 3; Seminole Chief, who won the Appleton Stakes at Gulfstream Park in March; Seal Team, unraced since a second in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes in February; and Mi Hermano Ramon, who won the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar last November. Mi Hermano Ramon has not raced since the Kilroe Mile, his fourth start since Thanksgiving weekend. “He’d ran pretty aggressively in the latter part of last year and the early part of this year,” trainer Mark Glatt said. “We thought giving him a little breather before the summer would be a good idea.” Jockey Hector Berrios rides Mi Hermano Ramon on Monday for the first time since the Seabiscuit. Glatt is hoping Berrios can position Mi Hermano Ramon to make a wide rally in the final three furlongs. “I hope we get that hot pace and hope that we can get a good trip where we can stay out of the inside with him,” Glatt said. “He’s a horse that it takes him a little bit to get his move underway. He needs to keep himself out of trouble. Even if he goes a little wider than you like, I’d rather give up a little ground and not get his momentum stopped.” To win, Mi Hermano Ramon will likely need to run past King of Gosford, who will be in a stalking position. King of Gosford won the Grade 2 Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds in December and closed well to finish second by three-quarters of a length behind Cabo Spirit as the 4-5 favorite in the American Stakes. “I think he needed his last race,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “It was his first race against older horses. He needed one and that was by design to have him ready to run his best race on Monday.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.