Santa Anita: Acclamation entered for Goodwood but more likely to stay on turf

ARCADIA, Calif. – Acclamation drew the rail for Saturday’s $250,000 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita, but that may be as close as the top older horse in California gets to starting in the Grade 1 race.

Trainer Don Warren said on Wednesday that Sunday’s $150,000 Clement Hirsch Invitational over 1 1/4 miles on turf remains the more likely start this weekend for Acclamation, the winner of four consecutive graded stakes.

“We’ll enter in both races,” he said. “I like the Sunday race myself, but we wanted to see who was in there. We’re ready for either race.”

Acclamation will be favored in in whichever race he appears. He is part of a field of nine entrants in the Goodwood that includes Awesome Gem, the winner of the Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs last month; Coil, who won the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in July; and Game On Dude, who won the Santa Anita Handicap here in March. Game On Dude was fourth behind Acclamation in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 28.

The Goodwood, a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5, is one of four Grade 1 races, each worth $250,000, on Saturday’s 11-race program at Santa Anita.

The Lady’s Secret Stakes, run over 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares, is a showdown between Blind Luck, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2010, and Ask the Moon, who won two Grade 1 races at Saratoga in the summer. Ultra Blend, the winner of the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar in August, may be a value against those two.

“I guess I’m just one of the guys filling the race,” trainer Art Sherman wisecracked about Ultra Blend on Wednesday. “If she hits the board I’ll be happy.”

The Lady’s Secret, a prep for the BC Ladies’ Classic on Nov. 4, will not include Switch, who is being pointed for the $200,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes for female sprinters at Keeneland on Oct. 8, trainer John Sadler said.

The Yellow Ribbon Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/4 miles on turf, has drawn a strong field of nine, led by Dubawi Heights, the runner-up in the Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park in August. The Yellow Ribbon is a prep for the BC Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 4.

Drill, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 7, will be a heavy favorite in the Norfolk Stakes for 2-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles, a prep for the BC Juvenile on Nov. 5. Drill is part of a field of six that includes Creative Cause, a troubled second in the Del Mar Futurity.

The field does not include Sheer Talent, who was sixth in the Del Mar Futurity, and has been fighting a cough this week, trainer Dan Hendricks said.

Goodwood Stakes Field

PP	HORSE	JOCKEY	TRAINER
	Acclamation	P. Valenzuela 124 Lbs	D. Warren
	Coil	M. Garcia 121 Lbs	B. Baffert
	Tres Borrachos	J. Rosario 119 Lbs	M. Jones
	Preamble	V. Espinoza 119 Lbs	R. Mandella
	Golden Itiz	J. Talamo 119 Lbs	R. Ellis
	Miss Match (ARG)	G. Gomez 121 Lbs	N. Drysdale
	Awesome Gem	D. Flores 119 Lbs	C. Dollase
	Game On Dude	C. Sutherland 121 Lbs	B. Baffert
	Nijinsky's Song	H. Berrios 116 Lbs	M. Harrington