INGLEWOOD, Calif. (June 25, 2008) - Irish-bred Heatseeker, the Santa Anita Handicap and Californian winner, will battle with Oaklawn Handicap champion Tiago in Saturday's 69th running of the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, but the contention runs much deeper with seven graded winners in the field of ten for the 1¼-mile classic.
Tiago, the half-brother of 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, won the 2007 Santa Anita Derby, Swaps Stakes and Goodwood Handicap before tangling with Heatseeker this year. He finished fourth in the Big 'Cap, upset his rival by a head in the Oaklawn Handicap, and finished 5¼ lengths back in second as Heatseeker cruised to victory in The Californian.
Heatseeker, the 123-pound high weight and 7-5 morning-line favorite in the Grade I event, will spot Tiago two pounds and his rivals as much as ten pounds, but some think it won't prove to be a burden.
"Unless Heatseeker is carrying an anchor, I don't know how we're going to catch him," John Shirreffs, trainer of Tiago, said recently.
Nine will try in what is one of the finest Gold Cup fields in recent years. The race, which will be televised on ESPN with a 4:43 p.m. (PDT) post time, lines up as follows from the rail out with jockey, weight and morning line odds:
Mast Track, with Tyler Baze up, will carry 113 pounds, 20-1; Perfect Drift, Victor Espinoza, 115, 15-1; Heatseeker, Rafael Bejarano, 123, 7/5; Tiago, Mike Smith, 121, 9/2; Racketeer, Joel Rosario, 113, 15-1; Student Council, Shaun Bridgmohan, 117, 6-1; Go Between, Garrett Gomez, 118, 7/2; McCann's Mojave, Frank Alvarado, 115, 20-1; Big Booster, Corey Nakatani, 116, 15-1, and Spice Route, Alex Solis, 113, 20-1.
Heatseeker, a 5-year-old son of Giant's Causeway who is attempting to become the third Irish-bred winner and the first since Royal Serenade in 1953, signaled his readiness with a five-furlong work in :57.80 under Bejarano on Sunday. He enters the race with seven wins in 17 starts and earnings of $1,180,223.
"He seems to be doing very well," said Jerry Hollendorfer, just one of four trainers to saddle 5,000 winners. "He's been training very well for quite a while now and he's been a very consistent horse for me. I hope he's coming up to this race in as good a form as I think he is.
"Bejarano is very pleased with the way he's been breezing and he's been on him every single time," Hollendorfer added. "We're happy with the way our horse is holding his form and holding his weight."
Hollendorfer does not view the Gold Cup as a two-horse affair.
"My thought on Tiago is he is a great horse," he said. "John Shirreffs and I are good friends. We talk about things and the last time we talked we just thought we were both fortunate to have a good horse to run in some of these big races. That's our rivalry . . . there are a lot of other good horses that are going to be in this race, so we're not thinking the race is just between us."
Eastern invaders Go Between and Student Council could have a big say about the outcome, not to mention 9-year-old come-backer Perfect Drift, 8-year-old California-bred McCann's Mojave and fellow graded winner Big Booster, a 7-year-old.
Go Between finished second in the Big 'Cap, beaten less than one length, and won the Sunshine Millions Classic in January on the synthetic track at Santa Anita Park. He is trained by Bill Mott, who saddled two-time Horse of the Year Cigar to win the 1995 Gold Cup en route to matching Citation's 16-race winning streak. Go Between, a 5-year-old son of Point Given, enters the Gold Cup with seven wins in 24 starts for earnings of $2,033,880.
Student Council, from the powerful Steve Asmussen stable, won the Pacific Classic when saddled by Vladimir Cerin in 2007, and captured the Pimlico Special in his most recent start. The 6-year-old son of Kingmambo has made $1,307,731 with eight wins in 27 starts.
Perfect Drift is the eldest of the group, and the richest. He has made $4,699,321 with 11 wins in 47 starts, but has not won since capturing the 2005 Washington Park Handicap at Arlington Park. The third-place finisher under Eddie Delahoussaye in the 2002 Kentucky Derby, he also won the 2003 Stephen Foster Handicap and will be making his second start for trainer Richard Mandella following a ten-month layoff. He finished fourth in the Shoemaker Mile on Memorial Day.
"I know he's got the capability of winning a Grade I race like this," said Mandella, who has saddled two Gold Cup winners, including the first three finishers and five of six starters in the 1997 running. "I thought the Shoemaker Mile was a pretty good test to see what level he was at. He was very competitive considering he hadn't run in a long time and he wasn't on his preferred surface."
Mandella knows Perfect Drift has his work cut out.
"He will take a lot of beating," the Hall of Fame trainer said of Heatseaker.
McCann's Mojave, attempting to become the 14th California-bred to win the Gold Cup, has made $1,468,565 with 12 wins in 34 starts. Most successful sprinting early in his career, the son of Memo won the Grade II Potrero Grande at 6½ furlongs in 2004 and the 7½-furlong Ack Ack Handicap here in 2005. He scored his biggest win at nine furlongs in the Sunshine Millions Classic at age seven a year ago and won the 1 1/16-mile Berkeley Handicap while making his last start May 26 at Golden Gate Fields.
Big Booster has been a success story since being claimed for $62,500 last winter at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Mike Mitchell sent him out to a third-place finish in the 2007 Gold Cup when he was beaten less than one-length by three-time winner Lava Man. Best on turf, he enters the Gold Cup with successive wins in the San Juan Capistrano Handicap and the Gallant Man. Overall, the 7-year-old has won ten of 44 starts for earnings of $701,373.
Mast Track, who finished fifth in the Shoemaker Mile, won an allowance race on Santa Anita's synthetic track one start prior to that. He is four-for-nine with earnings of $164,622 for Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel.
Racketeer was in Frankel's New York division before being purchased by trainer Barry Abrams and partners earlier this month. Second here last fall to Heatseeker in the Native Diver Handicap, the 5-year-old son of Awesome Again has won four of 19 starts for earnings of $251,404.
Spice Route, a 4-year-old import from Great Britain, won two of nine starts and earned $71,334 overseas.
