D'Amato Trio Looms Large In Shoemaker Mile

Trainer Phil D'Amato has been on a coast-to-coast roll with turf runners, winning three stakes the weekend of May 20-21, and threatening yet again at Santa Anita Park on Memorial Day, May 29.

D'Amato is set with multiple runners in both grade 1 turf events at Santa Anita on the holiday program, with two names in the entry box for the Gamely Stakes (G1T) and a hard-hitting trio in for the Shoemaker Mile (G1T), a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" event.

Many in the Shoemaker have been knocking heads for months now on the Southern California circuit, with mixed results. Five of them lined up for the March 4 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1T) and it was the star of the D'Amato bunch, Gold Phoenix , who came out on top, but just barely. Du Jour  was just a neck back in second. Cabo Spirit  was another three-quarters of a length in arrears in third, Hong Kong Harry  was fourth, 1 1/4 lengths back of the winner, and Balnikhov  tossed in a rare clunker, finishing seventh.

Gold Phoenix, Hong Kong Harry and Balnikhov are all trained by D'Amato and he has been saying all year that their scheduling is designed to get them to the biggest races of the year. 

"It definitely set him up for the Charles Whittingham (G2T) here going a mile and a quarter," D'Amato said after the Kilroe.

Things did not work out in that affair with Gold Phoenix running fourth, beaten 2 1/2 lengths with a rough trip.

Still, Gold Phoenix's score in the Kilroe makes him the only runner in the 11-horse field with a domestic grade 1 win. Kazushi Kimura, who rode the winter and early spring in California, is aboard Monday from the inside post after coming in from Woodbine, where he tops the rider standings.

Balnikhov was second, beaten a nose, in the Santa Anita Mathis Mile (G2T) on opening day Dec. 26. He rebounded from the Kilroe to win the San Francisco Mile (G3T) at Golden Gate Fields April 29.

Hong Kong Harry had won a pair of grade 2 events leading up to the Kilroe. He was a last-out second in the Turf Classic (G1T) at Churchill Downs May 6.

Monday's race is definitely not a one-trainer show although much of the opposition clearly demonstrates the competitive nature of, and difficulty of winning in, Southern California turf racing.

Irideo , a group 1 winner in his native Argentina, finished second in the American Stakes (G3T) April 2 but has not won since last July. 

Cabo Spirit, a 4-year-old Pioneerof the Nile  gelding, won the Twilight Derby (G2T) Oct. 29. Winless in four subsequent starts, he was fourth last month in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1T) at Keeneland.

Trainer Peter Eurton dropped Exaulted  into the mid-level allowance optional claiming ranks midway through the 2022 campaign and he has slowly worked his way back to this level, winning three in a row with victory in the American Stakes as a final prep for the Shoemaker.

Du Jour is a rare turf runner trained by Bob Baffert. He also is a rare winner, not having scored since the 2021 American Turf (G2T) on Kentucky Derby Day. He did post two nice seconds early this season for his owners, Debbie Lanni and Jill Baffert.

A wild card is Salesman , formerly trained in France by Andre Fabre who has trained smartly for his U.S. debut for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.