ARCADIA, Calif. — In a marathon devoid of any clear standout, Richard Mandella’s Tizamagician, Bob Baffert’s Azul Coast and John Sadler’s Combatant all figure prominently among a field of seven 3-year-olds and up in Sunday’s Grade III, $100,000 Tokyo City Cup, to be contested at a mile and one half.
A gate to wire first condition allowance winner going one mile on Sept. 5 at Del Mar, Tizamagician broke his maiden on Jan. 1 and now has two wins from six starts this year. A non-threatening fifth on turf in the Grade III La Jolla Handicap Aug. 9, Azul Coast was second to his eventual Kentucky Derby winning stablemate Authentic five starts back in the Grade III Sham Stakes Jan. 4.
Combatant, an upset winner of the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap on March 7, has been well beaten in three subsequent graded stakes.
TIZAMAGICIAN
Owner: MyRacehorse.com & Spendthrift Farm, LLC
Trainer: Richard Mandella
The only horse in the field to exit a win in his last start, this 3-year-old Tiznow colt will hope to stretch his considerable speed an additional half mile on Sunday. A close fourth to current Preakness hopeful Thousand Words subsequent to his maiden win in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 1, Tizamagician ran what appears to be the best race of his career on Sept. 5 and will retain the services of Drayden Van Dyke.
AZUL COAST
Owner: Mike Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Fifth, beaten 7 ¾ lengths on turf in the Grade III La Jolla Handicap last time out, Azul Coast showed much promise early, breaking his maiden going one mile at first asking on Dec. 8 at Los Alamitos and then running a respectable second to an outstanding horse in the Grade III, one mile Sham. Last, beaten 13 ½ lengths by Honor A.P. two starts back in the Santa Anita Derby, Azul Coast, a colt by Super Saver, was then a handy 1 ¼ length winner of the El Camino Real Derby three races back at Golden Gate Fields. That win earned him a spot in the Preakness on Saturday, however, his stablemates will be making that trip instead.
Ridden by five different jockeys in as many starts, he’ll be handled for the first time on Sunday by Luis Saez as he bids for his first graded stakes win in his sixth career start.
COMBATANT
Owner: Hronis Racing, LLC
Trainer: John Sadler
Although a winner at 9-1 of the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap four starts back on March 7, he’s been soundly beaten in three consecutive races since; the Grade II Del Mar Handicap (turf) on Aug. 22, the Grade II San Diego Handicap on July 25 and the Grade II Oaklawn Handicap May 2. Like the rest of the field, he’ll be trying a mile and one half for the first time. With his Big ’Cap win, he does have proven ability at a mile and one quarter but he’ll have to overcome an unattractive form cycle with Umberto Rispoli up.
The Grade III Tokyo City Cup
Race 10 of 11. Approximate post time 5:00 p.m. PT
1. Cupid’s Claws—Flavien Prat—122
2. Combatant—Umberto Rispoli—126
3. Tizamagician—Drayden Van Dyke—118
4. Bold Endeavor—Tyler Baze—122
5. Muralist—Juan Hernandez—122
6. Potantico—Abel Cedillo—122
7. Azul Coast—Luis Saez—120
First post time for an 11-race card on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. Although there is no pubic admittance, Santa Anita’s races can be viewed free of charge via the track’s livestream video at santaanita.com.
Santa Anita Entries for Sunday, September 27
Press Release
Photo: Tizamagician. Credit: Benoit Photos
