Gold Phoenix battles to the wire in the Del Mar Handicap. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Competitive Cast of 11 Set to Go in Saturday’s Grade II, $750,000 California Crown John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita
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Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—Grade I winner Gold Phoenix, who pushed his earnings past $1.5 million when narrowly winning last month’s GII Del Mar Handicap, will try for his seventh graded-stakes victory when he takes on 10 rivals in the GII, $750,0000 California Crown John Henry Turf Championship presented by 1/ST Bet Saturday at Santa Anita. The marathon 1 1/4 mile race is one of five stakes that include the GI $1million California Crown presented by SirDavis American Whisky and GII $750,000 California Crown Eddie D presented by FanDuel, City of Hope Mile presented by MyRacehorse and the Unzip Me presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
In the 1 3/8-mile Del Mar Handicap Aug. 11, only a neck separated the top three finishers—Gold Phoenix, Dicey Mo Chara and Balnikhov. All three, plus fourth-place finisher Rockemperor, return for Round 2 in the about 1 ¼-mile John Henry.
In the Del Mar Handicap, Gold Phoenix stalked the pace under Kyle Frey before rallying along the rail to nail front-running Dicey Mo Chara by a neck on the wire. The victory pushed Gold Phoenix’s record to 21: 8-3-3 with $1,522,757 in earnings.
Earlier this year, Gold Phoenix—who is one of five entered in the John Henry for trainer Phil D’Amato—won the GII Charles Whittingham, which is also contested at about 1 ¼ miles on Santa Anita’s Camino Real Hillside Turf Course.
Bred in Ireland, Gold Phoenix is a 6-year-old gelding by Belardo. Last year, he finished fifth in the John Henry for owners Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables and Marsha Naify.
Balnikhov launched from off the pace in the Del Mar Handicap but came up a neck short under Kazushi Kimura. On Saturday, Balnikhov will be ridden by Flavien Prat with Kimura shifting to his stablemate, Seven Wonders.
Balnikhov enters with a record of 28: 7-5-6 with $1,053,843 in earnings. Bred in Ireland, the 5-year-old gelding by Adaay earlier this year won the GIII Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard May 18. If Balnikhov were to add a win in the John Henry, he would then be in line to receive the 1/ST Grand 3 Turf Bonus of $2.5 million from 1/ST Racing if he were to also win next year’s GI Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park. Balnikhov is owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables and Old Bones Racing Stable.
Dicey Mo Chara will try and do one better for trainer Leonard Powell after his gut-wrenching defeat in the Del Mar Handicap. That day Dicey Mo Chara was hounded throughout on the front-end, was momentarily headed on the final turn, then retook the lead before being edged late by Gold Phoenix.
Owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal, Dicey Mo Chara’s only graded stakes win came in last year’s GII San Gabriel going 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita. Bred in England, the 6-year-old Adaay gelding has a record of 25: 4-7-4 with $608,777 in earnings.
European import Divin Propos makes his U.S. stakes debut for D’Amato following a sharp allowance win at Del Mar going 1 3/8 miles on turf Aug. 22. In what was his third start domestically, Divine Propos was keen while stalking the pace along the inside, took over at the top of the stretch and comfortably held off graded-stakes winner Offlee Naughty to score by a length. Jockey Antonio Fresu has been aboard for all three U.S. starts and again has the call Saturday.
THE GII JOHN HENRY
Race 7 of 10 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m.
First post for California Crown Day is 12:30 p.m. Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit www.santaanita.com
