South Americans spice up Gold Cup at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – The $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 28 will have a South American flavor.

While Game On Dude will be favored to win his ninth Grade 1 race and 15th stakes, the field will include the Chilean import Salto del Indio and possibly Lideris from Peru.

Salto del Indio, now trained by Mike Puype, will have his final workout for the Gold Cup on Sunday at Santa Anita. Brice Blanc has been booked to ride, according to Billy Koch, the managing director of the Little Red Feather syndicate that owns the 4-year-old Salto del Indio.

Lideris, trained by Peter Miller, worked five furlongs in 1:00 at Santa Anita on Friday. Miller said he is torn between the Gold Cup at Santa Anita or the $200,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap over about 1 3/4 miles on turf June 29 for Lideris, who was bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farms.

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The Gold Cup has seven probable starters. Other candidates include Clubhouse Ride, Fury Kapcori, and Majestic Harbor, who were the first three finishers of the Grade 2 Californian Stakes on May 31, and Imperative, the winner of the Charles Town Classic in West Virginia in April. Game On Dude was second in that race, losing by 1 1/2 lengths.

Clubhouse Ride worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 at Santa Anita on Friday.

The Gold Cup, which is run over 1 1/4 miles, will not include Footbridge, who was entered in Saturday’s Oak Tree Handicap at Pleasanton, trainer Eoin Harty said. Footbridge was a candidate for the Gold Cup as recently as the middle of the week.

Salto del Indio won 4 of 19 starts and $147,797 in Chile. He was a Group 1 winner over 1 3/16 miles on dirt last October.

“Running against the likes of Game On Dude, we’ll need a special race,” Koch said.

Salto del Indio arrived in the United States in late winter and has been working steadily. Koch said the Gold Cup at Santa Anita is his starting point for the season.

“All we have to go on is his works,” Koch said. “We’re trying to win the race, but we want him to be competitive. We’re looking to be in the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year. He’s a dirt horse, and that’s why we bought him.”