Well-traveled Missed the Cut may head to Royal Ascot in June

ARCADIA, Calif. - Missed the Cut, the winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 San Marcos Stakes at Santa Anita, has raced in four countries in his 14-race career.

A 5-year-old, Missed the Cut may be back in familiar territory in the spring. Trainer John Sadler said in the winner’s circle on Saturday that Missed the Cut could be sent to England for the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting in June.

If that journey occurs, it will be a return trip to the famous racetrack for Missed the Cut. In 2022, when trained by George Boughey, Missed the Cut won the Golden Gates Stakes at 1 1/4 miles, a handicap for 3-year-olds, at Royal Ascot as the 5-2 favorite.

Prior to his win in the $100,500 San Marcos Stakes, the Golden Gates Stakes was Missed the Cut’s most recent win on turf, a span of four races that included losses in graded stakes on the surface in France in 2022, and in Saudi Arabia and California last year.

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Missed the Cut won a minor stakes on the synthetic track at Lingfield Racecourse, near London, in November 2022, and the Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup at 1 1/2 miles on dirt at Santa Anita last October.

This year’s Royal Ascot meeting will be held from June 18 to 22. Missed the Cut ran in a lower-level race when he won the Golden Gates Stakes compared to the Group 1 races at Royal Ascot that often draw Europe’s best flat runners. The same approach could occur later this year, if the trip is taken.

“I think they’re realistic,” Sadler said of the partnership that owns Missed the Cut.

Races at Royal Ascot such as the $138,800 Wolferton Stakes, a handicap at 1 1/4 miles on June 18, or the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes, a $315,600 race at 1 1/2 miles on June 22, may be preferred to the Group 1 Prince of Wales Stakes, a $1.26 million race at 1 1/4 miles on June 19 that always draws a very talented field.

“It’s in my mind and my plan,” Sadler said of Royal Ascot. “We’ll see how he goes.”

In the San Marcos, Missed the Cut closed from third in a field of six to win by 1 1/4 lengths as the 6-5 favorite over Planetario, the winner of the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar in November.

Missed the Cut races for the partnership of Bee Zee LLC, Lanes End Racing, St. Elias Stable, Edward Babington, and Edward and Lynne Hudson.

The San Marcos and Tokyo City are Missed the Cut’s only wins in seven starts for Sadler. Missed the Cut was second in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, a distance Sadler indicated is below the horse’s best trip.

“More distance is good for him,” Sadler said.

There is ample time for another start before a potential trip to Royal Ascot. The next distance stakes on turf at Santa Anita is the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes, a $100,000 race at 1 1/2 miles on March 23.

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