Three-day racing weekend looms large for Papaprodromou
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The three-day racing weekend at Santa Anita from Friday through Sunday may help determine whether George Papaprodromou can remain in the top 10 of the trainer’s standings at the current winter-spring meeting. It will also dictate whether he can pull a surprise in a graded stakes.
Through Thursday, Papaprodromou, 48, was tied for seventh with 10 wins, well behind leaders Mark Glatt with 21 and Bob Baffert with 19. Many leading stables will have busy weekends, beginning with Friday’s nine-race program., and there are 11-race programs on Saturday and Sunday. Papaprodromou has 10 starters spread across the three days.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a good weekend,” Papaprodromou said on Wednesday.
The tone may be set on Friday. Baldoro is the second choice of six on the morning line in a starter allowance at 1 1/8 miles on turf, the day’s third race. In the fourth race, Papaprodromou starts morning-line favorite Liquid Spirit in a $32,000 claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs.
“We have two good chances,” he said.
On Saturday, a win from a Papaprodromou runner in a stakes would be an upset. Omaha Girl seeks her first stakes win in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf, while the veteran Cabo Spirit starts in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf.
Omaha Girl set the pace in the Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf on Feb. 1 before fading to finish fifth. In the Graded 3 Robert Frankel Stakes for fillies and mares on Dec. 27, she was a game fourth, beaten only three-quarters of a length at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
Omaha Girl is expected to set the pace in the Buena Vista, which drew a field of seven and is the third race of the day.
Cabo Spirit, a 6-year-old gelding, is a millionaire, largely because of a surprise win in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles in September, a $750,000 race in which he led throughout. Winless in four subsequent starts, Cabo Spirit was fifth in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 1 after stalking the pace. In the $300,000 Kilroe, Cabo Spirit will have a forward role, even if that means tussling with the speedy Air Force Red early, Papaprodromou said.
“We tried something different last time and it didn’t work out,” Papaprodromou said. “I think we’ll go for it. I’ll be like, come and catch me.”
There are four stakes on Saturday. On the undercard, Papaprodromou has high expectations for Cyprus Moon in a maiden race at six furlongs on turf, and he expresses similar optimism for Tessuto and Positivity in an allowance race at six furlongs on dirt. He is also eager to see what Ce La Vi Charli can do in an allowance race at six furlongs on dirt, her first start on the surface.
Cyprus Moon, a quick filly, will race without blinkers for the first time. She faded from the front to finish sixth in a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf on Jan. 26.
“Last time, it was a little too long for her,” Papaprodromou said.
Tessuto, in Papaprodromou’s opinion, is a stakes sprinter on dirt in the making. Positivity and Tessuto were first and second for Papaprodromou in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 31, a day Tessuto raced in traffic in early stretch and was only beaten a head.
“He’s improving,” Papaprodromou said. “He’ll probably be out there. Positivity can come from off of it.”
Ce La Vi Charli will be a longshot in Saturday’s second race. She won her debut at a mile on turf at Del Mar in September, but she has not finished better than fifth in four starts since then in turf stakes.
“Turf races are a little too tough for her,” Papaprodromou said. “She’s training good on the dirt. I want to do a switch.”
Papaprodromou won 10 races during the 2023-2024 Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, down from 23 at the 2021-2022 meeting and 18 during the 2022-2023 season. A successful weekend could leave Papaprodromou closer to those win totals and higher in the trainer standings at the current meeting, which ends April 6.
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