Santa Anita: Blingo points to Big Cap after San Antonio upset

ARCADIA, Calif. – Blingo is bound for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 8 after his upset win in Saturday’s $300,500 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita. As of Sunday, Blingo is likely to have ample company in the Big Cap.

The first six finishers in the seven-runner San Antonio – Blingo, Imperative, American Blend, Majestic Harbor, Game On Dude, and Blueskiesnrainbows – are candidates for the 1 1/4-mile Big Cap. Fury Kapcori, the winner of an allowance race over a mile Friday, and Shakin It Up, the winner of the Strub Stakes on Jan. 18, are other possible runners in the meeting’s top dirt race for older horses.

Going into the San Antonio, Game On Dude was considered a strong favorite for the Big Cap. After dueling for the lead with Blueskiesnrainbows but fading to finish fifth behind Blingo, Game On Dude’s position at the top of California’s handicap division is less secure.

Blingo, trained by John Shirreffs for Jerry and Ann Moss, won his first graded stakes in the Grade 2 San Antonio. Ridden by Aaron Gryder, Blingo ($33.80) closed from fifth to win by a hard-fought half-length over Imperative, a 26-1 shot. Game On Dude, the 3-10 favorite, finished 6 1/2 lengths behind Blingo.

The 5-year-old Blingo has won 4 of 11 starts and $364,408. He has won two of his last three starts, a span that began with a victory in the I’m a Banker Stakes at Belmont Park last October.

“We liked the race he ran in New York,” Shirreffs said Sunday. “He looked good that day. We knew he could jump up and run a big race.”

Blingo ran a disappointing race in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Jan. 11, finishing sixth behind Blueskiesnrainbows over 1 1/16 miles. Shirreffs said Blingo was not mentally prepared to run that day.

“I don’t know if something bothered him, but he got very upset between the receiving barn and the saddling enclosure,” Shirreffs said.
Shirreffs said Blingo was schooled extensively in recent weeks. “Hopefully, it made a big difference,” he said.

Imperative, claimed for $50,000 on Dec. 21, earned $60,000 for his runner-up finish in the San Antonio for owner Kenji Morinaga and trainer George Papaprodromou. Imperative led by a head in the stretch but could not hold off Blingo.

“I was screaming, ‘Hold on. Hold on,” Papaprodromou said Sunday, adding that the Big Cap is worth a try. “Why not? I think he belongs there.”

Game On Dude and Blueskiesnrainbows fought through early fractions of 22.75 and 46.26 seconds and still were in contention on the turn before fading through the stretch. Trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday that Game On Dude is bound for the Big Cap, a race he won in 2011 and 2013. No horse has ever won three runnings of the Big Cap.

“He’s fine,” Baffert said. “He came out of it in good shape. The pace did him in, but he needed the race.

As long as he shows me he’ll be competitive at the top level, he’ll run. If not, he won’t run.”

The San Antonio Stakes was the third consecutive loss for Game On Dude, a streak that includes a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 and a second to Will Take Charge in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Blueskiesnrainbows will be considered for the Big Cap, but he was frustrated at the San Antonio Stakes result.
“I guess we’ll have to see what we do with Blueskiesnrainbows,” he said. “We were trying to get to the Big Cap, but we didn’t do a very good job yesterday.”