Moreno targets Californian Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Moreno, the winner of the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 18, will start in the $200,000 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita on May 30, trainer Eric Guillot said on Friday.

Guillot said he is planning a summer campaign in California for Moreno, who has won 4 of 26 starts and earned $2,926,940 for Southern Equine Racing Stable. The $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 27 is an early-summer goal.

“I think I’ll stay here and be a contender,” he said.

Guillot said his decision is based partly on the absences of Santa Anita Handicap winner Shared Belief, who was pulled up with a hip injury in the Charles Town Classic, and California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year who is in England being prepared for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Earlier this week, Shared Belief was sent to the Pegasus training center in Washington state to continue recovery, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.