ARCADIA, Calif. – Setsuko is 7 and winless in three starts in the last two years. One of those losses was a second to Ron the Greek in the 2012 Santa Anita Handicap, a performance that has trainer Richard Mandella thinking of another Big Cap start in the $750,000 race on March 8.
Setsuko was fifth in an optional claimer Jan. 1, but emerged from the race with an illness. His training in recent weeks has given Mandella hope that the Big Cap is a reasonable goal.
“His last race wasn’t very good, but he was a little sick coming out of it,” Mandella said. “He’s coming along.”