San Juan Capistrano looks proper for Syntax

ARCADIA, Calif. – Syntax has modest credentials for a horse who will be favored in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at about 1 3/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita.

Syntax is winless in nine starts since taking the Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park in July 2015. He was a game second at 27-1 in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita on March 25.

That’s good enough to be rated as the top candidate for the $100,000 San Juan Capistrano, which was a Grade 1 race with a purse as high as $400,000 as recently as 2003. Its current status is a reflection of the state of the turf-marathon division in California.

Four of the six runners in the San Juan Capistrano ran in the San Luis Rey Stakes, while two were in claimers. The field lacks two stakes winners from earlier this year: Itsinthepost, who won the San Luis Rey Stakes, is running at Keeneland this weekend, and Ashleyluvssugar, who won the California Cup Turf Classic in January, is expected to start in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes on May 28.

Still, the race holds tremendous appeal on a regional basis.

“It was my favorite race when I was a kid,” said Phil D’Amato, who starts Syntax and Papacoolpapacool.

KEY CONTENDERS

Syntax, by Haatef
Last 3 Beyers: 97-89-75

◗ Syntax was trained by Bill Mott when he won the Kent and was with Michael Dickinson in Maryland in 2016. Owned by Matthew Schera, Syntax joined D’Amato’s stable over the winter and has had two starts in California, beginning with a third in an optional claimer at 1 1/8 miles on turf Feb. 5.

“It looks like he gets stronger at the end of his races,” D’Amato said. “He’s getting good right now.”

Papacoolpapacool, by Temple City
Last 3 Beyers: 89-92-79

◗ Papacoolpapacool, supplemented for $2,000 on Wednesday, has yet to win a graded stakes and has started in seven such races. He was eighth in the San Luis Rey Stakes.

“He’s got a different style than Syntax,” D’Amato said. “He’s got tactical speed.”

Power Foot, by Powerscourt
Last 3 Beyers: 91-90-80

◗ An 8-year-old, Power Foot is the senior member of the field. The gelding was sixth in the San Luis Rey Stakes and is winless in 14 starts since taking an optional claimer at 1 1/2 miles on turf here in January 2015.

“I think he’s an out-and-out stayer,” trainer Neil Drysdale said.

◗ Drysdale has won this race four times, most recently in 2012 with Bourbon Bay.

Mizdirection Stakes

Desert Steel, second in the Irish O’Brien Stakes on March 18, can win her first stakes in Saturday’s $75,000 Mizdirection Stakes for fillies and mares on the hillside turf course.

Trained by Simon Callaghan, Desert Steel is winless in six starts on the hillside course and has been second or third in her last four starts, all stakes.

The field includes Coppa, Do the Dance, Smoove It, Swift Lady, and Watch This Cat, all stakes winners since the start of 2016.