Gimme Da Lute Fresh Face in SA Sprint Champ

The majority of the eight-horse field scheduled to run in the $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (gr. I) Oct. 3 is more than familiar.



It's a similar group that has been contesting pretty much every graded sprint contest in Southern California in 2015, but a fresh face stands out and should have the pedigree to contend for the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event to the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I).



Owned by breeders Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman, California-bred Gimme Da Lute is the only 3-year-old in the field and boasts a four-race summer win streak that includes two-turn scores in the Affirmed Stakes (gr. III) and Los Alamitos Derby (gr. II).



BALAN: Gimme Da Lute Holds on in Los Alamitos Derby



The son of 2007 champion sprinter and two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Midnight Lute   won the listed El Cajon Stakes at Del Mar last time out and was dominant in his previous sprint try, the California-bred restricted Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar Aug. 2, when he won the seven-furlong event by 12 1/4 lengths. In five starts from 5 1/2 to 7 furlongs, Gimme Da Lute has a 3-1-1 record, but finished third in his only try at six furlongs—the Chick Lang Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on the Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I) undercard.



A case can be made for the Bob Baffert-trained Gimme Da Lute, but he lacks the top-level seasoning of grade I-winning entrants Masochistic and Wild Dude.



Owned by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and Green Smith, Wild Dude got the best of Masochistic in their last meeting, the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes (gr. I) at Del Mar July 26, but came up a half-length short to Appealing Tale last time out in the Pat O'Brien (gr. II), also at the seaside racetrack.



BALAN: Wild Dude Stuns Masochistic in Bing Crosby



Making his first start since the Bing Crosby, Los Pollos Hermanos Racing and Jay Em Ess Stables' Masochistic previously defeated Wild Dude in the June 27 Triple Bend Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park. The son of Sought After also has back-to-back bullet six-furlong drills on his worktab at Santa Anita (1:11 4/5 Sept. 20 and 1:11 1/5 from the gate Sept. 26).



BALAN: Masochistic Easy Winner of Triple Bend



Bing Crosby runners and graded stakes winners Kobe's Back (third in the Bing Crosby) and Distinctiv Passion (fifth) also return for Saturday's race. Distinctiv Passion defeated Wild Dude in the Los Angeles (gr. III) in May, while Kobe's Back has struggled mightily to get out of the gate recently and last won in the Commonwealth Stakes (gr. III) at Keeneland in April.



Another intriguing entrant in the Sprint Championship is Matson Racing's San Onofre. The graded stakes-placed runner finished fourth in the Triple Bend after dueling for the lead, but wasn't far off in his two previous starts—a second, by a neck, to Distinctiv Passion in the Los Angeles and a second, by three-quarters of a length, to Masochistic in the Kona Gold (gr. II).



Indexical, third in the Pat O'Brien, and allowance/optional claiming winner Glacken Too, complete the field.