Santa Anita: Clubhouse Ride leaning toward San Carlos Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Clubhouse Ride, second in the 2013 Santa Anita Handicap, is likely to start in Saturday’s $250,000 San Carlos Stakes over seven furlongs.

Trainer Craig Lewis said Sunday he is considering three races Saturday – the San Carlos, the $350,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf, or the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on dirt.

Clubhouse Ride has started once this year, finishing fifth in the Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course Feb. 23. Lewis downplayed the likelihood of a start in the Big Cap.

“It’s not out of the question, but it’s probably not going to happen,” Lewis said. “It’s probably 20 percent Big Cap, 20 percent Kilroe, and 60 percent for the San Carlos. It could change.”

Owned by Six-S Racing Stable and Nikolas Petralia, Clubhouse Ride has won 4 of 33 starts and $999,522. A 6-year-old horse, Clubhouse Ride won the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park last June. The Joe Hernandez Stakes was Clubhouse Ride’s first start since a fourth in the Ralph Hinds Pomona Invitational at the Los Angeles County Fair last September, a layoff caused by foot problems.

The San Carlos Stakes will be a tough assignment. The field is expected to include Wild Dude, the winner of the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes on Feb. 2; Shakin It Up, who won the Malibu Stakes in December and the Strub Stakes in January; and Sahara Sky, the winner of the 2013 San Carlos who was fifth in the Palos Verdes in his first start since a win in the Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Belmont Park last May.

Other candidates are Big Macher and Cyclometer, who were first and fifth in the California Cup Sprint on Jan. 25.

There are five stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, including the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles. The Grade 2 San Felipe is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 5.

On Sunday at Los Alamitos, San Felipe candidate California Chrome worked five furlongs on a wet-fast track in 1:00.40. Trained by Art Sherman, California Chrome most recently won the California Cup Derby for statebreds Jan. 25.

The San Felipe field is expected to include Bayern, Kristo, Midnight Hawk, Unstoppable Colby, and Recanted.