Two of the nation’s fastest Thoroughbreds, both winners of one of
America’s most
prestigious sprint races—the Grade I Malibu Stakes—are on course for a
showdown in the California Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Oct. 29.
They are M One Rifle, the 2009 winner, and Bob Black Jack,
winner of the seven furlong Malibu in 2008. Each horse worked Friday, M
One Rifle going five furlongs at Santa Anita in a bullet :59.20, while
Bob Black Jack went four furlongs at Hollywood Park in a bullet :46.40.
M One Rifle, a 5-year-old gelded son of One Man Army trained by
Bruce Headley, has not raced since running an uncharacteristic seventh
in the Grade I Triple Bend at Hollywood on July 2, but has been training
forwardly since for the Cal Cup Sprint.
“He worked good,” said Headley’s daughter, Karen. “It was exactly what he was supposed to do.”
Bob Black Jack, trained by James Kasparoff, has been on the
shelf since winning the Grade II San Carlos Handicap at Santa Anita in
February of last year, but like M One Rifle, has been working smartly
for his return.
“He’s ready to run,” Kasparoff said of the 6-year-old Stormy
Jack horse of which he owns a share along with his brother, Tim, and
Jeff Harmon.
Probable for the $100,000 California Cup Sprint: Bob Black Jack,
Patrick Valenzuela; Cost of Freedom, Rafael Bejarano; Courtside, Joel
Rosario; M One Rifle, Chantal Sutherland; and Mensa Heat, Joe Talamo.