Johannes Looks Tough to Beat in City of Hope Mile

Johannes  heads into the Sept. 27 City of Hope Mile Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park with only one race in 2025, as opposed to three in 2024. But the talented son of Nyquist   is still a good bet to repeat in the City of Hope en route to the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), in which he finished second last year.

Nearly unstoppable in 2024, Johannes won three consecutive graded stakes prior to a 1 1/4-length victory in the City of Hope. Following his three-quarter-length second to More Than Looks   in the Breeders' Cup Mile, Johannes returned to capture the Dec. 26 San Gabriel Stakes (G2T), but came out of the race with mild bone bruising.

Trainer Tim Yakteen gave Johannes plenty of time to recuperate, including a couple of months' R&R on a Kentucky farm. Yakteen didn't unveil Johannes as a 5-year-old in 2025 until the Aug. 2 Fourstardave Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course. Unfortunately, Johannes had a terrible trip, beginning with being bumped at the start, and he finished unplaced.

"From the moment the gates opened, nothing went right," Yakteen said. "That's behind us. The important thing is he's come back in excellent shape."

Now Johannes is back at his Santa Anita home base, and he is the even-money morning-line favorite in the City of Hope. Umberto Rispoli, who has ridden him in every race since late 2022, returns in the saddle.

"This is the race we've been targeting," Yakteen said. "It was the perfect springboard for him last year to the Breeders' Cup. We're trying to replicate that. Hopefully he'll have a cleaner break and a less eventful race this time around."

The City of Hope Mile has had several name changes over the years, but since 2013, it has been named for the world-renowned cancer treatment and research center just a few miles from Santa Anita in Duarte, Calif.

The race is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, granting the winner an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile. Silic, War Chant, and Val Royal won both races from 1999-2001. Singletary ran third in what was then the Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile in 2004, won that year's Breeders' Cup Mile, and returned to add the Oak Tree Mile in 2005.

Five have been entered against Johannes, with Almendares , Final Boss , and Cabo Spirit  having perhaps the best chances of defeating the likely heavy favorite.

Almendares, the second choice on the morning line at 3-1, won the July 19 Wickerr Stakes at Del Mar and finished second to Formidable Man  in the Aug. 30 Del Mar Mile Stakes (G2T). Phil D'Amato, who dominates turf racing in California, trains the 5-year-old gelded son of Havana Grey .

"(Almendares) is training phenomenal," D'Amato said. "He's going to have to bring his A+ game to beat Johannes, but that's the way he's been training. If we can get the right kind of trip, I think it's possible."

John Sadler trains Final Boss, listed on the morning line at 4-1. Sixth in the 1 3/8-mile Del Mar Handicap (G2T), Final Boss, a 4-year-old colt by American Pharoah  , finished fourth in the Wickerr and won the 2024 Cinema Stakes.

"That (1 3/8 miles) was probably a little too far for him," Sadler said. "Now we're dropping him back to a mile. There's a pretty prohibitive favorite in there with Yakteen's horse, but our horse is a nice horse. He's a stakes winner over the course and always runs his race."

Cabo Spirit, a 6-year-old gelded son of Pioneerof the Nile trained by George Papaprodromou, finished third in the Del Mar Mile. He also ran second to Formidable Man in the Eddie Read Stakes (G2T). Cabo Spirit won this year's American Stakes (G3T) at a mile and the 2024 California Crown John Henry Turf Championship Stakes (G2T) at 1 1/4 miles.

Zio Jo , trained by Doug O'Neill, and Scoobie Quando , trained by Michael McCarthy, round out the field.

Insights from Thoro-Graph

• Zio Jo has the typical pattern of an older grass horse, meaning all his figures are in a tight range. He's never run fast enough to have a real shot here, but some of the better ones have suspect patterns, so with the rail he should save ground and probably get a check.
• Scoobie Quando makes his second start locally, off the bench, and for McCarthy. He's not as solid as Zio Jo, but has more chance of running a new top.
• Johannes ran big figures last year, but his return at Saratoga left a lot to be desired, and when stakes-level grass horses run a bad one, it's a blinking yellow light. If he runs one of his good ones, Johannes is the horse to beat here, but we're also about to find out whether Johannes is going to be a contender at the Breeder's Cup.
• Final Boss has improved mightily with age, and ran the best race of his life two back. He bounced last time on short rest going further than he probably wants to, but now he's back at a mile, and if he runs back to his top, saving ground on the lead, he will give Johannes all he can handle even if that one fires.
• Almendares got extremely good last year, with figures similar to those of Johannes, and if he finds one of those efforts he's a major player here. But in the year since those he hasn't run nearly as well, which is not a great sign for a graded stakes grass horse.
• Cabo Spirit saved ground on the rail on both turns in his last seven (!) races, which made his moderate figures look better than they were. With speed inside of him that's unlikely to happen here, and he's a borderline contender at best.

Thoro-Graph performance figures are calculated based on a race's time with adjustments for beaten lengths, track speed, ground loss, weight carried, and, when necessary, wind. The lower the number, the better the race. Complimentary sheets for this week's race can be found online at Thoro-Graph. Learn more about how to analyze Thoro-Graph data at www.thorograph.com/basics.