Royal Ship looks to solidify status in San Diego Handicap
A new captain has emerged in the unsettled California handicap division, one in which leadership is often temporary. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Royal Ship arrived at Del Mar early Monday morning, and Saturday afternoon he will meet eight rivals in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap. More is at stake in the 1 1/16-mile race than the $250,000 purse.
If he wins the San Diego, Royal Ship could solidify favoritism for summer’s marquee race, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 21. Royal Ship also would provide stability to a division that has seesawed since late December at Santa Anita.
Kiss Today Goodbye won the Grade 2 San Antonio, then went off form. Express Train won the Grade 2 San Pasqual in January, but lost his next three starts. Both horses, Kiss Today Goodbye and Express Train, return Saturday in the San Diego.
Others have been sidelined or relocated. Idol won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March before he was taken out of training. Country Grammer won the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup in May, then was transferred to New York.
That leaves Royal Ship, winner of the Grade 2 Californian in April and runner-up by a head in the Gold Cup. Royal Ship is a 5-year-old veteran, but in reality, he is a new horse since being gelded late last year.
“He had a funny mindset to begin with,” trainer Richard Mandella said, referring partly to his unruly antics in the starting gate that compromised performance. Mandella said that castrating Royal Ship “made him more cooperative. The surgery helped.”
It helped him become the circuit’s top older male. And though Royal Ship benefits by the absence of Idol and Country Grammer, any horse that earned 105 and 108 Beyer Speed Figures in his last two starts, which Royal Ship did, needs no qualifiers. Mike Smith rides and works Royal Ship, the presumptive favorite and 124-pound topweight in the San Diego.
Eight others were also entered in a deep field. Rushie and Magic On Tap won Grade 2s; Mo Mosa won a Grade 3. Other entrants include Sheriff Brown, Tripoli, and Heywoods Beach. The San Diego is race 10.
Royal Ship, a Group 1 winner in Brazil before losing his first four U.S. starts, has trained exceptionally well since he last raced. The 1:17 time for his six-furlong work one week ago at Santa Anita is misleading.
“He was out there by himself, the first one around, and you know how some horses with Mike Smith just relax so much,” Mandella said. “He thought he was just galloping.”
Royal Ship went slow early, but he finished powerfully and will enter the San Diego in peak form. However, slam dunks in local handicap races are few and far between.
Express Train is winless in three starts since the San Antonio, but he ran well each time, in the money three straight graded races.
“He’s been a little unfortunate his last couple races,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “He’s due for a little luck.”
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Shirreffs is not wrong. Express Train finished third last time, four lengths behind Royal Ship, but with a bad trip. He was unable to establish his usual forward position, raced wide much of the race, and was shuffled slightly into the far turn. With a better trip, Express Train could have given Country Grammer and Royal Ship a battle.
Express Train has two wins and a second from three starts at Del Mar, and will be ridden again by Juan Hernandez. He will need to be forwardly placed, because the San Diego pace scenario is murky.
That will not help late-runner Kiss Today Goodbye in his first start since March. His brief stay at the top of the division evaporated after he won the San Antonio. Kiss Today Goodbye disliked the Gulfstream Park surface, finishing seventh in the Pegasus World Cup. He was discouraged by kickback when sixth in the Big Cap.
“He won’t run through kickback,” trainer Eric Kruljac said. “He just shuts the engines down. You have to find an opening where you’re not running through kickback.”
Unraced since March, Kiss Today Goodbye is ready to fire.
“We freshened him, and we drilled him. He’s dead fit, I think,” Kruljac said. “And the kickback [at Del Mar] isn’t as bad as” Santa Anita.
Victor Espinoza rides Kiss Today Goodbye, whose Del Mar starts include a third in a fast stakes race last summer and a decisive allowance win in fall.
Rushie breaks from the rail and is likely to produce speed. He finished fourth in the Gold Cup, a half-length behind Express Train. Trainer Michael McCarthy said Rushie “missed the break and everything kind of went out the window from there.”
Umberto Rispoli rides Rushie, who benefits shortening up from 1 1/4 miles to 1 1/16 miles.
John Sadler, whose five wins in the San Diego ties him with Charlie Whittingham and Bobby Frankel, starts upset candidates Heywoods Beach and Tripoli. Tripoli earned a 100 Beyer last out winning a second-level allowance in his first start on dirt.