Stilleto Boy, Express Train won't likely meet again until summer

ARCADIA, Calif. - Stilleto Boy and Express Train were first and second in Saturday’s Grade 2 Californian Stakes for older horses at Santa Anita. They may not meet again until the summer at Del Mar.

On Sunday, trainer Ed Moger Jr. said Stilleto Boy is scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita on May 30, while trainer John Shirreffs said Express Train is unlikely to run in that $400,000 race.

Stilleto Boy led throughout the four-runner Californian to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Express Train, who emerged from the race tired.

“He came out of it like he was competing in the Tevis Cup,” Shirreffs said, referring to the annual 100-mile endurance race held on a single day each summer in Northern California.

Shirreffs said stakes such as the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on July 30 and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Sept. 3 are more likely for Express Train, who had a three-race winning streak in stakes end in the Californian.

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“We’ll let him tell us,” Shirreffs said.

Stilleto Boy, owned by Moger’s brother Steve, won his first graded stakes in the $196,000 Californian, ending a seven-race losing streak since the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows last July.

Stilleto Boy ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.07, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 108. The only horse to produce a higher figure this year in races at a mile to 1 1/4 miles is Life Is Good, who recorded a 110 in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park in January.

Stilleto Boy was third by 4 1/4 lengths in the Pegasus World Cup in his first start of 2022, and followed that with a third by nine lengths behind Express Train in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 5.

In his final two starts of 2021, Stilleto Boy was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 6 and third by 12 1/2 lengths to Flightline in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

The comprehensive loss in the Big Cap surprised Ed Moger.

“To me, he didn’t run his race,” Moger said. “He was flat. He wasn’t flat going into it. He didn’t give any run at all. I think he was tired from the race at Gulfstream Park.”

The win in the Californian has left Moger eager for the Hollywood Gold Cup, the leading springtime race for older horses in California.

“Hopefully, he’ll be good between now and then,” he said. “He’s only 4. I think he’s still improving. Hopefully, fingers crossed.”

The Gold Cup field is scheduled to include Royal Ship, who was second in the race in 2021 to Country Grammer and won his 2022 debut in the John Shear Mile by five lengths on April 10. On Sunday, Royal Ship worked five furlongs in 1:00 for trainer Richard Mandella. Country Grammer won the Dubai World Cup in March, but is not scheduled to start in the Gold Cup.

Express Train is not the only leading older horse trained by Shirreffs who is unlikely to race again until the Del Mar summer meeting, which begins on July 22. Shirreffs said Sunday he plans to take a patient approach in coming months with Beyond Brilliant, the winner of the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Saturday.

“I think it would be tough to run right back,” Shirreffs said.

The Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on July 31 is a possibility for Beyond Brilliant, who races for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stables.

The 4-year-old Beyond Brilliant led throughout the $226,000 Whittingham, beating older horses for the first time in his second start of the year. Beyond Brilliant set the pace and finished fourth by a length in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf on March 5.

Victor Espinoza rode Beyond Brilliant in a win that came at a steep cost. On Sunday, Espinoza was fined $1,500 by Santa Anita stewards for using his whip more than six times on Beyond Brilliant.

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