ARCADIA — Michael McCarthy’s Breeders’ Cup will revolve around Journalism, the Santa Anita Derby and Preakness winner who’s looking as sharp as ever in morning workouts as he gets ready for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“I thought his work the other day was fantastic,” McCarthy said of a 5-furlong drill timed in 1:00⅘ seconds at Santa Anita on Friday. “We’re ahead of schedule.”
But Journalism won’t be the McCarthy’s only horse in the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar. Four-year-old Formidable Man will go into the Breeders’ Cup Mile with a 6-for-6 record on the Del Mar turf after wins in the Eddie Read Stakes and Del Mar Mile this summer. Two-year-old La Ville Lumiere shot into consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by running third at 31-1 odds behind winner Explora in the Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.
And Sunday, 2-year-old Stark Contrast joined the McCarthy traveling squad by springing a mild upset with jockey Kazushi Kimura in the $100,000, Grade III Zuma Beach Stakes, the race at Santa Anita that serves as California’s prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Stark Contrast is a compact horse facing a tall order. Since Zuma Beach was first run 14 years ago, 1-2-3- finishers have gone on to make 16 starts in the Juvenile Turf; none have won and only four have hit the board in the 1-mile race dominated by European and East Coast horses. Zuma Beach winner Iron Man Cal came in second at 29-1, a neck behind Henri Matisse, in the 2024 Juvenile Turf.
“At some point, California horses have got to break through,” McCarthy said after the Zuma Beach. “Maybe it’s this year.”
Stark Contrast took aim from fourth, outdueled Proletariat down the stretch and won by a neck over steadily closing Third Beer. The son of Caravaggio ran the mile in 1:34.77, a bit slower than recent runnings of the Zuma Beach, and paid $9.20. Favored Caro Buono was fourth in a field reduced to five by the scratches of Charlie’s Curlin and Medici.
The day was similar for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, who already had Kopion and Tamara lined up for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and added another Breeders’ Cup runner Sunday.
Brave Deb and jockey Mirco Demuro tracked Will Happen, took over the lead when that favorite cracked and went on to a one-length victory over Scratch It in the $100,000, Grade III Surfer Girl Stakes, a steppingstone to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Brave Deb, a daughter of Authentic making only her second start, paid $23.80 after running the mile in 1:35.40, slightly slower than usual for the Surfer Girl. It was the first stakes win in California for Demuro, the 46-year-old Italian who returned here this year.
The Juvenile Fillies is another Breeders’ Cup race that no California horse has won.
“We have high hopes,” Mandella said of his barn’s Breeders’ Cup possibilities.
THORPEDO ANNA FADES
At Keeneland, Gin Gin ($38.64) and Luis Saez nipped Nitrogen while 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna finished a distant fourth in the $650,000, Grade I Spinster Stakes for fillies and mares.
Four-year-old Thorpedo Anna is 4 for 6 this year, but the losses were clunkers.