San Pasqual Could be Dubai World Cup Trial for Quartet

A week after the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), a group of older horses will line up in the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2) Feb. 2 at Santa Anita Park with their connections eyeing another World Cup.

Half of the eight-horse field for the 1 1/8-mile San Pasqual is nominated for the Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1) March 30, and while a couple may not be all-in, for others the $12 million race is a definitive target circled on their calendar.

The most likely World Cup starter from the group is the Bob Baffert-trained Dabster, who is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, a member of the royal family in Dubai.

"The plan has always been for him to go to the World Cup," Baffert said.

But for Saturday, the 5-year-old son of Curlin  will have to take on a familiar rival, Don Alberto Stable and WinStar Farm's Battle of Midway, if he wants to earn his first graded win.

The Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Battle of Midway is also nominated to the World Cup, and has bested Dabster in their last two meetings. They were a neck apart at the wire for first place in the Nov. 25 Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar and three-quarters of a length apart for second in the Dec. 26 San Antonio Stakes (G2) won by Gift Box.

BALAN: Battle of Midway Holds Off Dabster in Native Diver

"Dabster is Bob Baffert's horse, and Bob is always tough," Hollendorfer said of the budding rivalry. "We're happy to be in there competing."

Baffert's other entry in the San Pasqual likely carries the most recognition in the field as one of the top 3-year-olds of 2018. Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman's McKinzie missed the Triple Crown because of a hind-leg injury but returned to racing late in the year, and had a short roller coaster of an experience through his final three races.

The Street Sense  colt returned with an impressive score in the Sept. 22 Pennsylvania Derby (G1), then completely misfired in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs, where he finished 12th of 14. Then came a dominant performance in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes (G1) back home at Santa Anita.

BALAN: McKinzie Powers Away to Win Malibu

With the benefit of hindsight, Baffert admitted the Classic run for McKinzie probably wasn't the best idea.

"He just hadn't gotten over that Pennsylvania Derby, and he lost a lot of weight on me," Baffert said. "We got a little ahead of ourselves with the Breeders' Cup. He had a gut-wrenching performance on a deep track at Parx off that layoff. … Draw a line through the Breeders' Cup. I should have kept him home."

Baffert also considered running McKinzie in the Pegasus but opted to stay home for a variety of reasons. He suspected there would be a wet track at Gulfstream Park Jan. 26 (there was), and even though he's likely to face a wet track at Santa Anita Saturday, there's less risk staying at home for the colt's first try in slop.

"Off that trip for the Breeders' Cup, he was doing well, and I didn't want to take him right back (out) there (on the road)," Baffert said. "I was tempted with the way he worked this last week, and he's really doing well, but we don't know about the wet track, and we'd rather find out here than find out shipping and paying $500,000 for a spot (in the Pegasus)."

As for the Dubai World Cup possibilities for McKinzie, Baffert wasn't as definitive as he was with Dabster.

"It's possible. He's nominated," Baffert said. "We'll take it one race at a time. He'll let me know. All I have planned for him is to make sure he runs in the Breeders' Cup here (at Santa Anita). The Met Mile could be a spot for him, too."

Another World Cup hopeful in the San Pasqual field is a horse who has experience making the trip to the Middle East—Reddam Racing's Pavel. Trainer Doug O'Neill said the son of Creative Cause  will have to show something in the San Pasqual to book his ticket to Dubai but that the World Cup is the target.

Pavel, who won the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) June 16, has been quite the traveler in his 13-race career, with multiple races in Kentucky, multiple trips to New York (fourth in the grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets and third in the grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes in 2017), a blowout win in the Smarty Jones Stakes (G3) at Parx Racing in 2017, a fourth in last year's Dubai World Cup, and a 15th-place performance last time out in the Dec. 2 Champions Cup (G1) in Japan.

O'Neill said Pavel came back from the Champions Cup well but noted the gray/roan horse hated the sandy track at Chukyo.

"The only thing we'd be worried about right now would be if he had to run on something dry and sandy, like in Japan," O'Neill joked when asked about Pavel's prospects on a wet track. "He's a sure-footed horse, so anything wet-fast, he should skip over it."

O'Neill was even considering a run for Pavel in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) but decided not to go in that race at Gulfstream Park because a couple of planned works on the turf at Santa Anita were scratched due to wet conditions.

"We tried twice to get him a work on the grass, and Santa Anita was great about it to let us do it, but both times it rained," O'Neill said. "It wasn't meant to be, but somewhere down the line we'll probably try him on turf."

Rounding out the field for the San Pasqual are multiple grade 2 winner Giant Expectations; Dalmore, who placed in the 2017 San Pasqual but has only won an allowance in 11 starts since; stakes winner Sonneteer, who finished fifth last time out in the San Antonio; and stakes-placed Shivermetimbers.

Entries: San Pasqual S. (G2)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, February 02, 2019, Race 9

• Grade II
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 4:23 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Pavel (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Doug F. O'Neill	8/1
2	2Dalmore (FL)	Kent J. Desormeaux	120	Anthony T. Quartarolo	20/1
3	3Dabster (KY)	Joseph Talamo	120	Bob Baffert	5/1
4	4Shivermetimbers (KY)	Geovanni Franco	120	Jerry Hollendorfer	30/1
5	5Giant Expectations (NY)	Joel Rosario	120	Peter Eurton	12/1
6	6Sonneteer (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	120	J. Keith Desormeaux	20/1
7	7McKinzie (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	Bob Baffert	4/5
8	8Battle of Midway (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Jerry Hollendorfer	5/2