Upsetters take aim at Midnight Storm in Gold Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Which of the imperfect starters Saturday in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita will upset favorite Midnight Storm? Or, is the favorite a cinch?

Perhaps one of the Bob Baffert trainees will upset the Gold Cup, although American Freedom’s only start this year was a fourth-place finish, and Cupid has not raced since September. Is this any way to prepare for a $500,000, 1 1/4-mile race?

“It’s not ideal; it’s not my normal routine,” Baffert said. “But the race is not coming up [strong]. There are nice horses, but there are no superstars.”

Arrogate resumed galloping only this week. Until he starts Aug. 19 in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the California handicap division could be light. The good news Saturday at Santa Anita is that the Gold Cup card includes some star power.

Lady Eli, the East Coast millionaire turf mare, returns west to face Avenge in the Grade 1 Gamely, race 5. Stormy Liberal seeks his fourth straight in the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes, a turf sprint that is race 3. Filly-and-mare turf sprinters, including Grade 1 winner Illuminant and California-bred speedball Enola Gray, run in the Grade 2 Monrovia, race 7.

It’s a solid card with a soft headline race. Only one of the nine Gold Cup entrants is a Grade 1 winner on dirt, and even trainer John Sadler concedes that the veteran Hard Aces, the 2015 Gold Cup winner, is up against it at age 7.

“I don’t know if he can win it, but I’ll bet he gets a good piece of it,” Sadler said. “He’s usually a good check-getter in a race like this.”

Sadler also entered Accelerate, who might scratch and wait for the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes on June 24.

Follow Me Crev has an upset chance, though he was dusted by Midnight Storm in March. Trainer Vladimir Cerin believes Follow Me Crev has improved since he finished third behind Shaman Ghost and Midnight Storm in the Santa Anita Handicap.

“That time, he was really short,” Cerin said. “He didn’t really have the base underneath him.”

Follow Me Crev missed training after the Big Cap due to quarter cracks. His runner-up finish last out in the Californian Stakes might have been better than it looks.

“I think he’s fitter,” Cerin said. “I look for him to improve.”

Trainer Phil D’Amato expects Midnight Storm to improve too after a dull third in the Oaklawn Handicap. Midnight Storm previously finished second in the Big Cap, an effort probably good enough to win the Gold Cup.

While watching Midnight Storm’s energetic gallop Thursday, D’Amato said, “That’s the horse I know, and the horse that I didn’t see when he was galloping at Oaklawn.”

Midnight Storm, a Grade 1 winner on turf and Grade 1-placed on dirt, was uncomfortable in the Oaklawn Handicap. He changed after returning home.

“He’s back feeling good, and I expect a top performance,” D’Amato said.

D’Amato also entered the closer Big John B, whose chances hinge on a pace meltdown.

“His style is to sit back and come with that one big run,” D’Amato said. “Who knows what happens with all that pace up there?”

Midnight Storm, a front-runner, will be kept honest by the Baffert pair. Cupid, who scratched from the Californian with a puncture wound, is drawn outside the favorite, while American Freedom breaks from the rail and is expected to show speed.

Texas Ryano and Prime Attraction also were entered in the Gold Cup, race 8.

KEY CONTENDERS

Midnight Storm, by Pioneerof the Nile

Last 3 Beyers: 95-107-101

◗ Flavien Prat is Midnight Storm’s new rider. He worked him May 17, when he posted a bullet six-furlong move in 1:12.80.

◗ Midnight Storm is the most accomplished horse in the field, having won 10 races and $1,681,100 from 24 starts.

American Freedom, by Pulpit

Last 3 Beyers: 93-104-98

◗ Supplemented to the Gold Cup for $10,000, American Freedom puts blinkers back on after running fourth without them in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs.

“He was getting out a little bit,” Baffert said. “I think he needs blinkers to keep him focused.”

◗ Baffert has won the Gold Cup five times, and American Freedom’s runner-up finishes last summer in the Travers and Haskell suggest he could become an important older horse.

Follow Me Crev, by Quality Road

Last 3 Beyers: 99-101-96

◗ He covered 32 feet more than winner Collected when he finished second last out in the Californian.

Cupid, by Tapit

Last 3 Beyers: 84-95-92

◗ He won three Grade 2 races last year, at Mountaineer, Indiana Grand, and Oaklawn Park.