Straight Up G heavy favorite to get the W in California Cup Derby

There might be bigger races in the near future for Straight Up G, but first things first Saturday at Santa Anita. He will be a heavy favorite against five rivals, two of whom he just clobbered, in the $200,000 California Cup Derby, and if he passes that test it may be time to face open company.

The Cal Cup Derby, race 3 on a 10-race card exclusively for Cal-breds that begins at noon, is the first of five stakes Saturday, with the other four to be run on the second half of the card. Owing to the Cal Cup Derby having the smallest field of the afternoon, it was taken out of the Rainbow 6, which will have a mandatory payout Saturday. There was $391,973 in the single-ticket jackpot carryover pool entering Friday’s card, so barring the ghost of Daniel Borislow taking down the pool Friday, track officials predict a Saturday pool in the $4 million range.

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Straight Up G – a homebred colt by Straight Fire for Jim and Janet Rome’s Jungle Racing – has made good use of the Cal-bred program. After finishing fourth in his debut sprinting at Santa Anita in what turned out to be a loaded race – Slow Down Andy, the winner, two months later won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity – Straight Up G beat maidens at Del Mar, then stretched out and romped by 3 1/2 lengths in the one-mile King Glorious at Los Alamitos. He led from start to finish under Ricky Gonzalez, who is back on Straight Up G for the third straight start.

The 1 1/16-mile Cal Cup Derby will require Straight Up G to negotiate another sixteenth of a mile. He’ll have had five weeks between starts, far more time than when he was jammed back in three weeks for the King Glorious, so trainer Richard Baltas is expecting another strong performance.

“I thought his last race was a big effort – back in three weeks, one work, first time two turns,” Baltas said Thursday morning. “He passed all the tests. This is the next logical spot. Trying to take it one step at a time. It’s nice to have this option. Then if he does well we can maybe go against open company, and with more seasoning.”

Finneus and Fast Draw Munnings, second and third, behind Straight Up G in the King Glorious, try again. Finneus ran the visually more impressive race of the two, rallying wide and from behind against a moderate pace. Fast Draw Munnings sat a pocket trip and went evenly through the lane.

Highland Ghost invades from Northern California, where he won twice in seven starts, once on dirt and once on all-weather. He drew the rail, has speed, and landed Flavien Prat.

“With a horse like Straight Up G in there, I’d rather not lead, but being on the rail, I’m just going to leave it up to Prat,” O.J. Jauregui, the trainer of Highland Ghost, said Thursday. “For $200,000, Cal-bred, might as well take a shot.”

The maidens Agador Spartacus and Sippin N Kissin complete the field.