CA Crown

[Squeaky]

Who is pointing for it?

[Curtis]

Who is pointing for it?

I’m incredulous that Seize the Grey didn’t. I heard Baffert say specifically Muth is and I’ve heard chatter about National Treasure, too. Just a guess but that Glatt that won the San Diego and was favored in the Pacific Classic—Dr.V….. It would make sense Sadler would put that horse of his that just got late and got caught in the Pacific Classic. I haven’t heard if Doug is giving Mixto a race before the BC. You’d think there would be a shipper or two since the Santa Anita track is the same material as Del Mar. There, now you don’t really know any more than when you asked.

[Northport]

It truly is bonkers that Seize the Gray isnt there. The Pennsylvania Derby isn’t very competitive either, but this seems like an even easier spot. Plus, the nice bonus on the line.

And no one can try to convince me that the Pennsylvania Derby is the more prestigious spot.

[CoronadosQuest]

Lukas felt that the CA Crown would be the harder race and due to the stud deal, they wanted the easiest race possible for him since he has had two losses after the Preakness

[Flanders]

Who is pointing for it?

Nominations:

Arrowthegreat
Big Blue Line
Dr. Venkman
E J Won The Cup
Full Serrano(ARG)
Il Miracolo
Indispensable
Katonah
Mixto
Muth
National Treasure
Newgate
None Above The Law
Prince Abu Dhabi
Reincarnate
Senor Buscador
Skippylongstocking
Stronghold
Strong Quality
Subsanador(ARG)
There Goes Harvard
Two Rivers Over
Ultra Power

[BaroqueAgain1]

Ultra Power (Curlin x Unique Bella) is nominated? That's very interesting. I wonder how likely it is that he runs, considering all the other Baffert-trained horses on that list?

[Flanders]

Ultra Power (Curlin x Unique Bella) is nominated? That's very interesting. I wonder how likely it is that he runs, considering all the other Baffert-trained horses on that list?

I suppose it depends how many horses go, if he would make the field, and if the owner really wants to race. Do the Avengers actually race all 3 of theirs that are nominated? Quite a few of the non-Baffert horses are nominated to about every race that weekend that they can be at SA.

All the day's (and next day's) nominations/PPs are here.
https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHor ... cfm?trk=SA

Speed Boat Beach and Forbidden Kingdom are both nominated to both sprint races, haven't seen either of those in awhile. Linda's Gift is vet listed until the beginning of October, I'm assuming because of corticosteroid injection(its a 30 day and wasn't shockwave).

[BaroqueAgain1]

Thanks.

[Missbeholder]

I see that McCarthy has nominated my girl Sweet Azteca to the Zenyatta. That kind of surprises me because I've always thought her Breeders Cup path led straight to the F&M Sprint. I wonder why he would even consider taking that route. Her GI win came at a mile and the Zenyatta is only 1/16th further so that by itself shouldn't be a huge problem, but the 1-1/8 mile of the BC Distaff IS, not to mention taking on Adare Manor in one or both races, and potentially the likes of Thorpedo Anna in the latter!

Her latest workout was last Saturday, 9/14, with a middlin' 4f in 48.20 ranked 10/58, which is kind of slowish for her. Could McCarthy be thinking about using the GII Zenyatta as a fitness-builder for the ultimate cut-back to the 7f F&M Sprint? The other thing, too, is that with all the re-vamping of the Santa Anita BC prep schedule, I'm not sure that there's a more suitable prep for the F&M Sprint even available, assuming that Mike really wants a prep race for her.

I haven't spent the greater part of my life becoming a successful trainer of racehorses, but I'm such a huge fan of this filly, and the Zenyatta nomination kind of messed with my mind. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

[Curtis]

I see that McCarthy has nominated my girl Sweet Azteca to the Zenyatta. That kind of surprises me because I've always thought her Breeders Cup path led straight to the F&M Sprint. I wonder why he would even consider taking that route. Her GI win came at a mile and the Zenyatta is only 1/16th further so that by itself shouldn't be a huge problem, but the 1-1/8 mile of the BC Distaff IS, not to mention taking on Adare Manor in one or both races, and potentially the likes of Thorpedo Anna in the latter!

Her latest workout was last Saturday, 9/14, with a middlin' 4f in 48.20 ranked 10/58, which is kind of slowish for her. Could McCarthy be thinking about using the GII Zenyatta as a fitness-builder for the ultimate cut-back to the 7f F&M Sprint? The other thing, too, is that with all the re-vamping of the Santa Anita BC prep schedule, I'm not sure that there's a more suitable prep for the F&M Sprint even available, assuming that Mike really wants a prep race for her.

I haven't spent the greater part of my life becoming a successful trainer of racehorses, but I'm such a huge fan of this filly, and the Zenyatta nomination kind of messed with my mind. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

I’m not surprised by it really. McCarthy could ship her to Keeneland as they have a 7f prep there. Running her at Santa Anita gives them options though. I could see Sweet Azteca wiring the field in the Zenyatta. If the race doesn’t take a ton out of her they can either cut back in the F&M Sprint where she’d be live as all get out or they could roll the dice and go after the Distaff. I like 9f better for speed horses than 8.5f because the run to the first turn isn’t so crazy. There’s a reason trainers don’t call for my advice but if they go the sprint route, I’d look into the Cigar Mile next. It would be all kinds of fun seeing her go a one-turn mile.

[Starine]

Pacific Classic runner-up Full Serrano is out after spiking a fever.

[Flanders]

Don't think the big purse paid off the way they were hoping, they had more horses last year with a 300k purse. Part of them may not even run: https://www.drf.com/news/seven-enter-ca ... -few-fence

1 Newgate
2 Subsanador(ARG)
3 National Treasure
4 Katonah
5 Muth
6 Senor Buscador
7 Indispensable

[Curtis]

Don't think the big purse paid off the way they were hoping, they had more horses last year with a 300k purse. Part of them may not even run: https://www.drf.com/news/seven-enter-ca ... -few-fence

1 Newgate
2 Subsanador(ARG)
3 National Treasure
4 Katonah
5 Muth
6 Senor Buscador
7 Indispensable

I think the real idea was to make it sound like a big deal to anchor a big day to boost attendance. Now we’ll just have the memories of all those big races Awesome Again ran at Santa Anita. As far as getting a better field, I think the purse would need to be tripled from the current purse to do anything significant in that regards. Maybe that would keep 3yo’s away from the PA Cesspool. I know he was outvoted by his thousands of owners but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

[Flanders]

Don't think the big purse paid off the way they were hoping, they had more horses last year with a 300k purse. Part of them may not even run: https://www.drf.com/news/seven-enter-ca ... -few-fence

1 Newgate
2 Subsanador(ARG)
3 National Treasure
4 Katonah
5 Muth
6 Senor Buscador
7 Indispensable

I think the real idea was to make it sound like a big deal to anchor a big day to boost attendance. Now we’ll just have the memories of all those big races Awesome Again ran at Santa Anita. As far as getting a better field, I think the purse would need to be tripled from the current purse to do anything significant in that regards. Maybe that would keep 3yo’s away from the PA Cesspool. I know he was outvoted by his thousands of owners but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

Yeah for sure it was but if they can't get a decent field, who is going to go to watch it? The thing that makes Pegasus Day work is the big purses and big fields. Who is going to be excited about going to the track to maybe have a 7 horse field but it could also be 5? I will say they did a very good job getting good sized fields for all the turf races.

[stark]

but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

Bob says.......Appearance fees are preferred, guaranteed $.

[Curtis]

Don't think the big purse paid off the way they were hoping, they had more horses last year with a 300k purse. Part of them may not even run: https://www.drf.com/news/seven-enter-ca ... -few-fence

1 Newgate
2 Subsanador(ARG)
3 National Treasure
4 Katonah
5 Muth
6 Senor Buscador
7 Indispensable

I think the real idea was to make it sound like a big deal to anchor a big day to boost attendance. Now we’ll just have the memories of all those big races Awesome Again ran at Santa Anita. As far as getting a better field, I think the purse would need to be tripled from the current purse to do anything significant in that regards. Maybe that would keep 3yo’s away from the PA Cesspool. I know he was outvoted by his thousands of owners but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

Yeah for sure it was but if they can't get a decent field, who is going to go to watch it? The thing that makes Pegasus Day work is the big purses and big fields. Who is going to be excited about going to the track to maybe have a 7 horse field but it could also be 5? I will say they did a very good job getting good sized fields for all the turf races.

You’d be surprised. Many of those they’ll bring out would have trouble identifying which end bites and which one kicks. Calling it the California Crown makes it sound exotic. Some will probably think it’s named after California Chrome and that they misremembered his name. It’ll take a couple of years for people to figure out the Emperor is naked. It’s on a much smaller scale but it’s similar to the Donn Handicap becoming the Pegasus.

[Curtis]

but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

Bob says.......Appearance fees are preferred, guaranteed $.

It’s a little known fact but that scene from Jerry Maguire between Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr. was based on an actual conversation between Baffert and Pegram.

[CoronadosQuest]

Don't think the big purse paid off the way they were hoping, they had more horses last year with a 300k purse. Part of them may not even run: https://www.drf.com/news/seven-enter-ca ... -few-fence

1 Newgate
2 Subsanador(ARG)
3 National Treasure
4 Katonah
5 Muth
6 Senor Buscador
7 Indispensable

I think the real idea was to make it sound like a big deal to anchor a big day to boost attendance. Now we’ll just have the memories of all those big races Awesome Again ran at Santa Anita. As far as getting a better field, I think the purse would need to be tripled from the current purse to do anything significant in that regards. Maybe that would keep 3yo’s away from the PA Cesspool. I know he was outvoted by his thousands of owners but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

I sorta think had Lukas got his way and we ran in the Travers, we would have been in the Cali Crown.

[TapitsGal]

Don't think the big purse paid off the way they were hoping, they had more horses last year with a 300k purse. Part of them may not even run: https://www.drf.com/news/seven-enter-ca ... -few-fence

1 Newgate
2 Subsanador(ARG)
3 National Treasure
4 Katonah
5 Muth
6 Senor Buscador
7 Indispensable

I think the real idea was to make it sound like a big deal to anchor a big day to boost attendance. Now we’ll just have the memories of all those big races Awesome Again ran at Santa Anita. As far as getting a better field, I think the purse would need to be tripled from the current purse to do anything significant in that regards. Maybe that would keep 3yo’s away from the PA Cesspool. I know he was outvoted by his thousands of owners but if you can’t get Coach to bite on a bonus, something is wrong.

I sorta think had Lukas got his way and we ran in the Travers, we would have been in the Cali Crown.

I'm glad we went to the Pennsylvania derby. Seize the Grey won and now we have a chance at the classic or dirt mile. One more out of the money finish and he would have been next to charge it in the gainesway stallion barn by breeders cup week

[BaroqueAgain1]

Indispensable scratched out of the CA Crown, so we're down to just six runners.