Whittingham Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
May 29, 2021

One of the best horses of 2020 will return to the track for the first time in four months as BC Turf winning Billy Joel highlights the 16th running of the Grade 2 Whittingham Stakes. This race will send a field of nine a total of ten furlongs around the turf course at SA. We have seen greats of the game win this race in the past, including Barbarino in 2009 and the greatest horse to never win a BC race, Spanish Showboat, in 2018. Last year, Nolespan Racing won the race with Dons Carry On, who won at 26/1. He’s still active, but has not been seen on the track for a while. Let’s take a look at those who will try to be the next name on the past winners list!

#1- Mucho Baked (Spankys Barn, ridden by U Rispoli)- Starting on the rail, this gelding is coming off a career year as a four year old. He ran in several graded events and would win the Muniz Memorial Handicap as the highlight of the year. This year, he has had a chance to run graded a couple times, and while he has not been bad by any stretch of the imagination, he did hit the board in either of them. Needs to beat a couple of tough ones in here, but he’s capable of finishing near the front.

#2- Obeah Mon (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J Pyfer)- Last October, he became a Grade 1 by taking the $300.000 Northern Dancer BC Turf, and he ran well in his two races that followed. After running in the Pegasus World Cup, he was not seen until last month, though we’re still not sure if anyone can recall seeing him in the OP Handicap at all since his race was that poor. He may like going back to the grass, and if he does, he shouldn’t see the dirt again for a while.

#3- Technic (Fractious, ridden by V Espinoza)- Picked up by the trainer last September for $500.000 in private sales, and the gelding is coming close to making that a worthwhile investment now. He’s won once in five starts in Fractious silks, taking the Grade 2 San Marcos here back in January, but has been lacking consistency otherwise. If he can run like he did in the San Marcos, then he can win this race, but nothing less than that will do.

#4- Hollywood Capo (Nakamura Stables, ridden by T J Pereira)- A horse that is still mostly unproven, but Nakamura believes pretty strongly in him. He’s had some moments in his past, and that led the trainer to pay $201.000 for him in private sales in January. After taking time to learn his new horse, Hollywood Capo debuted for Nakamura in the SF Mile last month, and ran second. Now, we’ll see if he wants to go longer.

#5- Range Of The Sun (John Henry, ridden by J J Hernandez)- You cover enough races, you start to see some horses constantly. Some of them ring a bell because they always step up when you cover them, and some of them are recognizable because they never do. Range Of The Sun is the latter. Sure, he’s been a good horse for his career and maybe the move to the grass helps. But when you pick a horse and they stop coming through, you stop picking the horse.

#6- Billy Joel (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- There is so much to like about this one, and he comes into the Whittingham on a three race winning streak. Those aren’t small races either, as they consist of the Hirsch Turf Classic, the BC Turf, and the Pegasus World Cup Turf. All of them, Grade 1’s. But, the Pegasus World Cup Turf was a long time ago, and if the horse is hot, it’s odd to shut him down for four months. Hopefully, he has not been showing signs of slowing down, but that could be a fair concern here. If he is ready to pick up where he left off, then it could be a long day for the other eight in this field. At any rate, I am glad to see him back.

#7- Ideal Gift (Threshold, ridden by A Cedillo)- Picked up in a claimer for $6.250 last month, and now he will be in the starting gate next to the reigning BC Turf champion. Hopefully, he is not star struck, but when one is next to Billy Joel, that could be understood. Eleven wins in 35 starts is nice, but he’s never hard a start as tough as #36 will be.

#8- Wired Up (Rampage Stable, ridden by F Prat)- He took on Billy Joel in the Pegasus World Cup Turf, and ended up running fifth. At that time, he was looking to follow up his win in the Grade 3 Smith, but as of now that is still the last time that he won. Wired Up did run well in the Diarmida, but was better in his last start, running fourth in the Grade 2 Elkhorn at KEE last month. Looks like this is a horse that simply cannot get too far behind at the start.

#9- Dogs Noah (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Ru Gonzalez)- Back in 2019, we saw this horse run at the graded level, and he was good at finishing in the money. It’s been a while, but a three race win streak in overnights right here at SA is sending the seven year old back into graded competition. He’s never run this long in his career, and most recently, the majority of his races have been sprints. Could finish in the top half of the field, but winning is a taller order.

Prediction: 6-3-4-8

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES