PHOENIX – A few months ago the thought of another Phoenix Gold Cup might not have seemed plausible as the prospect of Turf Paradise holding another meet hung in the balance. However, the Phoenix track is in full stride and the meet’s annual marquee event, the $60,000 Gold Cup, leads a stakes quintet Thursday. The Gold Cup, at six furlongs, drew a competitive and full field of 12 headed by Southern California raider Moose Mitchell and multiple graded stakes-placed and local stakes winner Principe Carlo. It goes as race 8 on a nine-race program. Also on the card is the $60,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile turf event named after the former Phoenix Suns coach who was a fixture at the track for years before his passing in 2004; the $60,000 Turf Paradise Derby; $60,000 Arizona Oaks; and $60,000 Queen of the Green Stakes. The Fitzsimmons Handicap (race 5), for 3-year-olds and up, drew a field of nine. The Turf Paradise Derby (race 7), at 1 1/16 miles on the main track for 3-year-olds, lured eight. The Arizona Oaks (race 6), at a mile on the main track for 3-year-old fillies, pits seven. The Queen of the Green (race 9) at 1 1/16 miles on turf for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up, has a 10-horse field. Moose Mitchell ships in for trainer George Papaprodromou after running third and fifth in stakes at Del Mar and Santa Anita, respectively. He’s been freshened for this and comes here off some fast Santa Anita works. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Principe Carlo, trained by Justin Evans here and previously with Librado Barocio in Southern California, shipped here to win the Hank Mills Sr. over a number of these Jan. 29, so he is proven on this track, unlike Moose Mitchell. Others include Tony’s Tapit and Kingdom Heart, second and third, respectively, in the Hank Mills Sr., less than a length behind Principe Carlo; Love My Jimmy, stepping up in class after two romping wins over lesser here this winter; Minister of Soul, the 10-year-old veteran who won this race in 2019; and Truth Seeker, the defending champ who is 5 for 7 here. Cotton Fitzsimmons War At Sea looms a heavy favorite for trainer Ron Ellis as he comes here off a series of stakes tries in California, including a win in the Grade 3 Golden Gate Handicap. He was a respectable fourth in the Grade 2 San Gabriel on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. The one-two finishers of that race (Easter and Missed the Cut) are legitimate graded stakes types. Fuerteventura is another shipper but not from Southern California. The Jonathan Thomas runner was a stakes winner on turf at Canterbury last June and then a sharp second in a turf stakes on Aug. 5 at Ellis Park. He’s been freshened since running sixth in a strong allowance race on Keeneland turf Oct. 13. Turf Paradise Derby Southern California raiders appear to hold the aces. Last Call London, trained by Peter Miller, is a statebred stakes winner at Los Alamitos. He finished fourth in a very strong allowance race on Feb. 11 at Santa Anita in which the highly regarded Bob Baffert colts Maymun and Imagination (who just came back to win the Grade 2 San Felipe) finished one-two. E J Won the Cup, trained by Doug O’Neill, comes off a highly rated maiden win in his first route attempt on Feb. 23 at Santa Anita. Arizona Oaks Madison Rae may appreciate a return to routing on dirt. She won the Soviet Problem, a dirt route, at Los Alamitos for Miller before a couple of modest turf tries at Santa Anita. Sakura Blossom and Pink Whitney ship in for trainers Leonard Powell and O’Neill, respectively, after finishing one-two in an allowance sprint on Feb. 11 at Santa Anita. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Zorina and Pop Chart carry the local hopes. They ran third and fourth, respectively, in the Princess of Palms, the traditional local prep for this on Feb. 26. Queen of the Green Ascendancy is the one to beat for trainer O.J. Jauregui despite this being her first start since last summer. When last seen, she was easily winning a turf stakes at Santa Rosa. Yankee Dollar comes off a game dirt route stakes win here Feb. 19 and may be better on turf, where she is 5 for 9. Free and Humble is in from Southern California where she was seventh in an allowance turf sprint. Last fall, however, she was stakes-placed in a turf sprint at Santa Anita. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.