Original Sin needs more alert start in Goodwood

Original Sin will be a few strides from the gate in Saturday’s Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita when trainer Brendan Walsh will have a fair assessment of the 4-year-old colt’s chances.

Original Sin broke slowly in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 22 at Del Mar and rallied from last of 11 to finish second. He finished well behind Knightsbridge, who won by 6 1/4 lengths.

In the $300,000 Goodwood at 1 1/8 miles, Original Sin cannot afford another tardy start and still get the richest win of his career.

The race has Breeders’ Cup implications. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the $7 million BC Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

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“Hopefully, he’ll get out of there a bit better and not make it as hard on himself as he did at Del Mar,” Walsh said earlier this week.

Original Sin is part of a fascinating field of nine in the Goodwood, the richest of 10 races on Saturday.

The cast includes Nevada Beach, who won the 2025 Goodwood but has not raced since he finished 12th of 13 in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia in February; McAfee and Caldera, allowance race winners during the summer at Saratoga and Colonial Downs; and Forged Steel, who won the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May but has lost his last two starts, including a seventh-place finish in the Pacific Classic.

Others include the 3-year-old Mr. A. P., best known for finishing second in the BC Juvenile at Del Mar last October; Midnight Mammoth, a 2024 Grade 3 stakes winner; Vodka Vodka, who won the $250,000 Sunland Park Stakes in April in New Mexico; and the recent maiden race winner Taif.

Much of the focus will be on Nevada Beach, who is trained by Bob Baffert and has had a steady pattern of workouts in recent months.

On Saturday, Nevada Beach will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, who has been aboard the 4-year-old colt for three of his four wins. Hernandez worked Nevada Beach during the Del Mar summer meeting.

“I was happy with the way he was moving,” Hernandez said.

The Goodwood “won’t be an easy race,” Hernandez said. “He likes Santa Anita. I have big expectations.”

Nevada Beach, who starts from the outside post, frequently races near the front. In the Saudi Cup, he stumbled at the start and was not a factor.

With a good start, Original Sin could race as a stalker more than a closer. In the Grade 3 Blame Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs in May, Original Sin was second to the longshot pacesetter Liberal Arts before taking the lead with three furlongs remaining. He won by a half-length.

“He was game,” Walsh said. “It was good to see.”

Original Sin, who races for Calumet Farm, needs runners such as Caldera, McAfee, and possibly Midnight Mammoth to provide a strong early tempo.

“I think the main thing is there will be pace in there,” Walsh said. “I think if he gets the right trip he should be right there.”

The Goodwood is the first start in a Grade 1 for McAfee since he finished a well-beaten fourth in the 2025 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. McAfee has not raced since a win by 6 1/4 lengths in an allowance race at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga in July.

“It was a pretty impressive race,” trainer George Weaver said.

Weaver admits that McAfee is “moving up the ladder a little bit” in the Goodwood.

“We wanted to take a shot,” he said. “If he runs his race, he could be right there. He’s definitely got a lot of talent and class. He’s got to put it together.”

Caldera has won three allowance races in one-turn mile races this year for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who also starts Forged Steel. Caldera has led or raced as a stalker in each of those wins at Gulfstream Park and Colonial Downs.

“We wanted to build him up properly,” Joseph said. “We’re optimistic he can be effective.

“He’s a forwardly placed horse, which is a good thing, especially on the dirt. We feel he can be a Grade 1 horse.”

Forged Steel was as close as third on the turn in the Pacific Classic before fading. A shorter race will help the five-time winner, Joseph said.

“We learned we weren’t good enough,” Joseph said of the loss. “He made a run at the three-eighths pole and he fizzled out. The mile and an eighth should be within his reach.”

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