Wild Jewels steps up, tests win streak in California Cup Derby

When Wild Jewels won the minor Gold Rush Stakes by a half-length at Golden Gate Fields last month, trainer Steve Specht struggled to watch.

Specht wanted jockey Catalino Martinez to let Wild Jewels roll along in front with a clear lead in the gelding’s first race at a mile instead of racing with company. In the end, the tactics worked in favor of Wild Jewels, who will start at the slightly longer distance of 1 1/16 miles in Saturday’s $200,000 California Cup Derby at Santa Anita.

“I was cursing Catalino the whole way,” Specht said. “He was choking him down. He could have had an easy lead. He got passed and still came back and won it.”

In the California Cup Derby for statebred 3-year-olds, Wild Jewels will be prominent from the start from an outside post in a field of five. Martinez has remained at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday; Frank Alvarado has the mount at Santa Anita.

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The California Cup Derby is the first of five six-figure stakes for statebreds on Saturday’s nine-race program, which begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The program includes two stakes for 3-year-olds, including the $200,000 California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf for fillies.

Wild Jewels, owned and bred by Larry and Marianne Williams, is one of two stakes winners in the California Cup Derby field. Last Call London won the King Glorious Stakes for statebred 2-year-olds at a mile at Los Alamitos last month in his eighth start.

Last Call London beat three rivals in the King Glorious Stakes who are part of the California Cup Derby field – Stolen Treasure and Mici’s Express, who were second and third, and Gentlemen’s Club, who was fifth.

Stolen Treasure set the pace in the King Glorious, closely tracked by Last Call London who won by a neck.

Wild Jewels has won three consecutive starts at Golden Gate Fields. Last August, Wild Jewels was fifth of eight in the Graduation Stakes for statebreds at 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar after a wide trip.

“He didn’t run all that great at Del Mar,” Specht said. “He was way wide the whole damn race and ran a little green.”

Grand Slam Smile tries turf

Grand Slam Smile, a stakes winner at Santa Anita in November, gives the Williamses and Specht a formidable contender in the California Cup Oaks in her first start on turf.

The surface will not be a concern for Asada Fries or Sushi Sticks, who have won on the surface. Asada Fries won a maiden race at a mile on turf for statebred fillies at Del Mar in November in her fifth start and was beaten a length by Madison Rae in the Soviet Problem Stakes at a mile on dirt on Dec. 10 at Los Alamitos despite engaging in a bumping incident in early stretch.

Sushi Sticks won her debut in a maiden race for statebred fillies at a mile at Del Mar in August and was later third by 1 1/2 lengths to Wild Jewels when facing males for the first time in the Gold Rush Stakes. In between, Sushi Sticks was last of nine in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita in October after a troubled trip.

Flavien Prat will ride Sushi Sticks for the first time in the California Cup Oaks.

Grand Slam Smile and Madison Rae are the only stakes winners in the California Cup Oaks field. Madison Rae raced at a mile for the first time in the Soviet Problem Stakes, leading throughout to win by a half-length.

Grand Slam Smile has never raced on turf, but is a half-sister to the turf stakes winner Royal ’n Rando, who starts in Saturday’s $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic for older statebreds at Santa Anita.

“If the turf isn’t a factor, I don’t think they’ll beat her,” Specht said.

Grand Slam Smile won the Golden State Juvenile Fillies at seven furlongs by 7 1/4 lengths on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita in her third consecutive start in Southern California. Grand Slam Smile was second as the 2-5 favorite to two-time stakes winner Charlene’s Dream in the Golden Gate Debutante at six furlongs on the synthetic track Nov. 25.

“I ran her back in three weeks,” Specht said. “It was a little quick for her after going up and down the highway.”

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