Cinema Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
SA- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
May 11, 2025

This Mother’s Day at SA, seven three-year-olds will be taking part in the eighth running of the Cinema Stakes. This race loses some distance in 2025, as it was a mile and a quarter for the last two years, and a mile and an eighth in the years before that. Fortunately, the purse does not see a reduction. For SA standards, this is a smaller ungraded stake, but still a good opportunity for three-year-old turf horses. Last year’s winner, Extreme Super Hero, from Mb Stables, used the victory to advance into the graded ranks, where he also found success. The gelding is still active at this time. Now, let’s look at those that seek to be the next addition to the winner’s list:

1- Street Sounds (Bigchief Stables, ridden by L Dettori)- Bigchief Stables landed this horse in the December auction for $75.010, and it’s looking like a good purchase up to this point. After breaking his maiden at PRX, Street Sounds would later run second in the $100.000 Black Gold Stakes at FG in March. However, his two races that surround that are not as good. He did manage a fourth-place check in the Texas Turf Mile but was well behind the leader. Last time out, he didn’t beat anyone in the $165.000 Cutler Bay. It’ll be important for him to bounce back well from that.

2- Smokin Commander (Red Fox Farms, ridden by F T Alvarado)- Smokin Commander is a lightly raced maiden, having made just two starts, and neither are on the turf. When we last saw him, he was second against CA-Breds here in mid-February. This is a leap of faith, and there are not many recent public works to look at it. He’ll need to have improved since his last turf mile work way back on New Year’s Eve.

3- Canyon Wind (High Voltage, ridden by D Van Dyke)- Picked up by High Voltage in private sales for $80.000 in late November, and he has gone on to cash as check in each of his three races since then. They are all ungraded stakes, but he is still looking for the top share of one of those purses. He had run better in his first two races in his new silks and seemed to take a step back when he ran here in the $100.000 Pasadena Stakes. He was still fourth but was beaten by three lengths. There can be reasons for that, and it may have had to do with his start. Works quite well and should be better than last month.

4- Decima Is Notorious (Riggins Racing, ridden by M E Smith)- Another lightly raced horse, but at least Decima Is Notorious can say that he is no longer a maiden. That’s because he broke that in his last start, coming on the main track at KEE, for a purse that is not much less than this race goes for. He had run well in a prior turf start, and his works do seem to suggest that he will be better on the grass than he is on the dirt. If he can race as well as he worked here a couple weeks ago, he could surprise this field.

5- Thats It N Thats All (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by V Espinoza)- So far, the only wins that this colt has managed are in overnights. That’s it, that’s all. Sorry, I had too. He’s run nine times and picked up his second career victory here last month in a wire-to-wire effort in an optional claimer. Prior to that, he had competitive showings in ungraded races that include the Black Gold and the Texas Turf Mile, and there’s no reason to think that he can’t do that again.

6- Ged (Keikowin Racing, ridden by J Valdivia Jr)- He’s hit the board in five out of seven races overall, and in four out of five while running on the grass. His two wins have come at TAM, and neither in a stake, so those are not going to intimidate the opposition here. The trainer took a break from running him on the turf two starts ago for the $500.000 VA Derby at CNL, and he would finish near the back. While he did run third last month PRX, he was beaten by two lengths and only registered a 90 SRF. He’ll need to be better here.

7- Michael Jordan (Nakamura Stables, ridden by K Kimura)- Has a big name to live up to, and early in his career, he was on the right track. However, this year, he’s only shot airballs in his four starts, failing to hit the board in any of those races. Nakamura Stables has not backed down from his placement, continuing to run him at the stake level while only getting a couple of fourth place checks to speak of. The gelding was decent in the Columbia Stakes but has not shown that more often.

Prediction: 1-3-4-7

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded