Smokey Image tunes up for California Cup Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. - Smokey Image, the unbeaten California-bred 3-year-old, worked seven furlongs in 1:26.60 on Saturday for a scheduled start in the $250,000 California Cup Derby at Santa Anita on Jan. 30.

Victor Espinoza was aboard for the workout.

Trainer Carla Gaines said on Saturday she would make a final decision on Smokey Image’s participation in the California Cup Derby for statebreds at the beginning of the week.

Smokey Image won a maiden race and four stakes for trainer Greg James in 2015 and joined Gaines’s stable in the fall, shortly after winning the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile for California-breds at seven furlongs on Oct. 30. At the time, James said that owners and breeders Robert and Betty Irving wanted Smokey Image based in Southern California.

Smokey Image, who has earned $297,600, has not raced beyond seven furlongs. The Cal Cup Derby is run at 1 1/16 miles. The race is also expected to include Found Money, who won the $100,000 King Glorious Stakes at a mile at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12.