Johannes getting a hug from Umberto Rispoli after winning the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita. (Ernie Belmonte/Past the Wire)
The winner receives an automatic berth in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile Nov. 2 at Del Mar
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Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—Grade I winner Johannes will put a three-race win streak on the line when he faces a distinguished group of turf milers in Saturday’s Grade II, $200,000 City of Hope Mile presented by My Racehorse at Santa Anita. The City of Hope is also a “Win and You’re in” for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile.
The City of Hope Mile is one of five stakes that include the GI $1million California Crown presented by SirDavis American Whisky and GII $750,000 California Crown John Henry Turf Championship presented by 1/ST Bet, California Crown Eddie D. presented by FanDuel and the Unzip Me presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
Trained by Tim Yakteen, Johannes has yet to be beaten this year. Following a win in the GIII American Stakes at a mile on turf in April at Santa Anita, Johannes returned to win the GI Shoemaker Mile in May at Santa Anita and the GII Eddie Read at 1 1/8 miles on turf July 28 at Del Mar. The 4-year-old Nyquist colt sports a record of 10: 6-0-1 with $573,859 in earnings for owner-breeder CUYATHY LLC.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli, who is 6-for-7 aboard Johannes, has the call.
In last month’s GII Del Mar Mile, Conclude got back on the beam with a narrow victory over runner-up Almendares and third-place finisher Astronomer. All three—plus fourth-place finisher Du Jour—return on Saturday.
Trained by Phil D’Amato, Conclude went to the front under Hector Berrios in the Del Mar Mile and was never headed to edge Almendares by a head on the wire. It was a half-length back to Astronomer in third.
For Conclude, it was his second Grade II win and fourth stakes victory overall, The 4-year-old Collected Colt last year won both Oceanside Stakes and GII Del Mar Derby, both at Del Mar, and the Desert Code Stakes sprinting on Santa Anita hillside turf course. Owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables and The Estate of Brereton C. Jones, Conclude is 9: 5-1-0 with $546,100 in earnings.
Almendares, also trained by D’Amato, was the 9-1 fifth choice when nearly upsetting his stablemate in the Del Mar Mile under Antonio Fresu. Bred in England, the 4-year-old Havana Grey gelding is seeking his first stakes win.
Almendares has a record of 13: 4-3-3—which includes five starts in Ireland—and earnings of $267,195. With Fresu opting to stick with D’Amato-trained Easter in the City of Hope, Almendares will have Flavien Prat in the irons.
Astronomer will look to do one better in this year’s City of Hope after being beaten just a neck when second to Hong Kong Harry in last year’s edition. In the Del Mar Mile most recently, the 5-year-old Air Force Blue gelding rated in mid-pack under Kazushi Kimura before his late bid came up a half-length short of Conclude.
Trained by Simon Callaghan for owners Alice Bamford and Michael B. Tabor, Astronomer is 13: 3-2-1 with $271,800 in earnings. Kimura will again be in the irons.
Eastern invader Trikari comes to town for trainer Graham Motion following consecutive wins in the GI Belmont Derby at Aqueduct July 6 and GII Secretariat at Colonial Downs Aug. 11. Both those wins came under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who is also making the trip west to ride.
Owned by Amerman Racing, Trikari is a 3-year-old colt by Oscar Performance. He has a record of 8: 5-1-1 with $1,303,530 in earnings.
Easter, a multiple Grade II winner last year, is still seeking his first win of the year. In three prior starts this season, Easter was second in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita then was off the board in both the GI Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita and GII Eddie Read at Del Mar.
A 6-year-old by Exosphere, the France-bred gelding last year won both the GII Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar and GII San Gabriel at Santa Anita for owner Madaket Stables. He has a record of 22: 7-4-3 with $633,410 in earnings.
Du Jour won this year’s Kilroe Mile in March then was third in the GI Shoemaker Mile and off the board in the Eddie Read. In the Del Mar Mile, the 6-year-old gelding by Temple City rallied under Juan Hernandez to be beaten three-quarters of a length.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Du Jour is 20: 6-3-3 with $1,172,720 in earnings for owners Natalie J. Baffert and Dennie Lanni. He will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, who was also aboard in the Del Mar Mile.
THE GII CITY OF HOPE MILE
Race 10 of 10 Approximate post time 5 p.m.
First post for California Crown Day, Saturday is 12:30 p.m. Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m. For more information or to buy tickets, please visit www.santaanita.com.
