Win The Space to face California Chrome - again - in Awesome Again

ARCADIA, Calif. - Win the Space left trainer George Papaprodromou perplexed when the colt was pulled up in the stretch of the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 20.

“He didn’t fire,” Papaprodromou recalled on Sunday. “We did every test we could do to find out about it. It wasn’t his day.”

When no injury surfaced, Win the Space was put back in serious training in early September. The 4-year-old Win the Space had a smooth month in September, and will start in his third Grade 1 race of 2016 in Saturday’s $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Awesome Again Stakes will be Win the Space’s third consecutive start against California Chrome. Owned by Rustin Kretz, Win the Space was third behind California Chrome in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 23.

“We’re going against California Chrome again and that’s a challenge,” Papaprodromou said. “There is nowhere else to go and I don’t want to ship him.”

The Awesome Again winner will receive a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5 through the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program. The Awesome Again will include Hard Aces, who won the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar in July but was eighth in the Pacific Classic, and possibly Dortmund, who was third in the Pacific Classic. The race will not have a large field.

The BC Classic could be in the plans for Win the Space, provided he runs extremely well Saturday. A logical alternative is the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

Papaprodromou has realistic expectations for Saturday’s race.

“If he finishes close, the Classic might be for him,” he said. “We’ll take it race by race.”

The Awesome Again Stakes will be Win the Space’s first start at Santa Anita since a second to Melatonin in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita. Gary Stevens rode Win the Space in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita and has the mount again for the first time since that race on Saturday, Papaprodromou said.
Stevens worked Win the Space five furlongs in 1:00.40 Sunday at Santa Anita.

“He looked like he had something left,” Papaprodromou said.

The Awesome Again Stakes is one of five Grade 1 races on Saturday, all of which are Win and You’re In Breeders’ Cup preps. The Santa Anita autumn meeting opens Friday.

The champions Beholder and Stellar Wind will meet for the third time this year in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. They are leading contenders for the BC Distaff.

Saturday’s $300,000 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles is led by American Cleopatra and Champagne Room, who were second and third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 3. The race is a prep for the BC Juvenile Fillies.

Klimt, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 5, will be favored in the $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. The BC Juvenile is a goal for Klimt.

The $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf will probably have the largest field of the day for stakes. The race is expected to have a double-digit field, and is likely to produce a few runners for the BC Filly and Mare Turf.