Dicey Mo Chara, D'Amato Quartet Battle in San Marcos

Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal's Dicey Mo Chara  seeks his second graded stakes turf win of the meet as he heads a field of 10 older horses in the $200,000 San Marcos Stakes (G3T), to be contested Feb. 5 at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita.

A gutty half-length winner of the San Gabriel Stakes  (G2T) at the same distance Dec. 26, Dicey Mo Chara, who overcame a rough start, will be reunited with leading man Juan Hernandez as he pursues his fifth win from 18 overall starts. 

A versatile 5-year-old Adaay  gelding trained by Leonard Powell, Dicey Mo Chara is 2-2-1 in eight starts over the Santa Anita lawn. His connections chose to sit out an opportunity in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) late last month at Gulfstream Park to await Sunday's race.

Phil D'Amato, who will saddle four horses in the San Marcos, has a big look with 6-year-old Masteroffoxhounds , who pressed the early pace and finished third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Dicey Mo Chara in the San Gabriel as the 6-5 favorite with Mike Smith.

D'Amato is expecting a bounce-back effort, partially because of the turf condition. While the course for the San Gabriel was rated as firm, the race was run following days of rain that fell in Southern California.

"He'll get a firmer turf course this time. It was rain-drenched (in the San Gabriel) and he likes to hear his feet rattle," D'Amato said.

Victorious in his only pairing with jockey Umberto Rispoli three starts ago in the John Henry Turf Championship, beating Dicey Mo Chara, Masteroffoxhounds will be reunited with the talented Italian rider. Masteroffoxhounds and longshot Evan Harlan  are the anticipated early leaders in the San Marcos.

A full horse by War Front  , Masteroffoxhounds is owned by Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch. With two wins and as many seconds at the distance, Masteroffoxhounds, a winner of the 2021 San Marcos, seeks his third graded stakes victory as he tries to improve upon an overall mark of 4-3-5 in 21 starts.

A front-running winner of the Nov. 25 Hollywood Turf Cup (G2T) two starts back at Del Mar, fellow D'Amato barnmate Prince Abama  was subsequently a troubled fourth, beaten 2 1/2 lengths by Dicey Mo Chara under Flavien Prat in the opening-day San Gabriel.

"He kind of had a little traffic trouble and I think Flavien will have him in a better spot this time," D'Amato said.

A 5-year-old gelding owned by Michael House, Prince Abama has three seconds and a third-place finish from six tries over the Santa Anita turf. He will try to improve on an overall mark of 3-4-1 from 11 starts.

A close second to Prince Abama in the Hollywood Turf Cup two starts back, Graham Motion trainee The Grey Wizard  subsequently rallied for an eye-catching first-level allowance win at 1 1/4 miles on turf Jan. 20 for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Albert Frassetto.

The 4-year-old gelding by Caravaggio will try to make improve to 2-for-2 over the course, with Hall of Famer John Velazquez up for the third consecutive time.

Avenue , Cash Equity , Evan Harland, Opry , Say the Word , and Yes This Time  round out the field.

Entries: San Marcos S. (G3T)

Santa Anita Park, Sunday, February 05, 2023, Race 6

• Grade III
• 1 1/4m
• Downhill turf
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 3:06 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Evan Harlan (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	120	H. Graham Motion	20/1
2	2Masteroffoxhounds (KY)	Umberto Rispoli	124	Philip D'Amato	4/1
3	3Opry (KY)	Lanfranco Dettori	124	George Papaprodromou	12/1
4	4Prince Abama (IRE)	Flavien Prat	124	Philip D'Amato	5/1
5	5Yes This Time (KY)	Joe Bravo	124	Mark Glatt	12/1
6	6Cash Equity (FR)	Jessica Pyfer	120	Philip D'Amato	15/1
7	7Dicey Mo Chara (GB)	Juan J. Hernandez	124	Leonard Powell	3/1
8	8Say the Word (ON)	Kent J. Desormeaux	124	Philip D'Amato	4/1
9	9The Grey Wizard (IRE)	John R. Velazquez	120	H. Graham Motion	5/1
10	10Avenue (KY)	Kazushi Kimura	120	Michael W. McCarthy	12/1