Trainer Bill Mott, a member of
racing’s Hall of Fame since 1998, will be seeking his second win in the
$250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup when the Grade I is run for the 28th
time Saturday at Hollywood
Park.
Mott, who won with Fraise for owner
Madeleine Paulson in 1993, will be represented in the 1 ½ mile race by Treat
Gently, who is owned by breeder Juddmonte Farms.
A 5-year-old Cape Cross
mare out of the In the Wings mare Kid Gloves, Treat Gently is hoping to become
the second female to win the Turf Cup.
The English bred would join Miss
Alleged, who prevailed in 1991 en route to an Eclipse Award as the female turf
champion.
Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte
Farms is aiming for a third Turf Cup win and second in a row. Champs
Elysees won as the favorite when the race was last run in 2008.
Juddmonte’s other victory came with Alphabatim in 1984.
Treat Gently has won two of seven in
2010, earning a pair of Grade II wins in the Sheepshead
Bay May 22 at Belmont
Park and the Robert G. Dick Memorial
July 17 at Delaware
Park. She’s won five of
16 lifetime and earned $578,445.
The Hollywood Turf Cup will be her
first start since she was fourth against males in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
Invitational Oct. 2 at Belmont
Park. She wound up 2 ¾
lengths behind winner Winchester.
Another Hall of Fame trainer, Neil
Drysdale, will be looking for his initial victory in the Turf Cup when he
saddles Marlang. Drysdale was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.
A 5-year-old Langfuhr horse and the
Conquistador Cielo mare Marienburg, Marlang has a win over the Hollywood Park grass at the Turf Cup
distance. The Canadian bred won the Sunset Handicap July 18 for
owner-breeder Gustav Schickedanz.
Fourth in last month’s Clement L.
Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship, Marlang has five wins in 17 attempts
and earnings of $575,712.
Temple City is returning to turf after three consecutive main
track efforts at Del Mar and Hawthorne.
The 5-year-old won the Cougar II
Handicap July 30 at Del
Mar, then followed with two subpar efforts in the Pacific Classic Aug. 28 and
Hawthorne Gold Cup Oct. 2
Last of nine in his most recent
outing, Temple City, a son of Dynaformer and the Danzig mare Curriculum, has
won four of 14 and earned $276,400 for trainer Carla Gaines and owner
Spendthrift Farm LLC.
In his most recent race on the Hollywood Park
grass, Temple City
was second, a head behind Global Hunter in the American Handicap July 4.
Ron McAnally, a member of the Hall
of Fame since 1990 and a winner of this event in 1983 with John Henry, will send
out Buenos Dias. An Irish bred owned by Charles Cella, the 5-year-old Peinte
Celebre horse and the Rainbow Quest mare Buenos
Aires has won three of 22 and banked $265,412.
Where’s the Remote will try to
become the first California
bred winner of the Turf Cup since Prince Spellbound took the second division in
1982. Owned by Greg Unruh and trained by Mike Mitchell, the 5-year-old
Unbridled gelding out of the Corwyn
Bay mare Sit Back `n
Relax has three wins in seven starts and has earned $171,924.
The gray has two wins and a second
in three races on turf. The runner-up effort came behind Champ Pegasus in the
Hirsch Memorial. Champ Pegasus returned to finish second in the Breeders’
Cup Turf Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.
Unusual Suspect is in the midst of a
16 race losing streak for a partnership that includes trainer Barry Abrams, his
wife Dyan and brother David. The 6-year-old Unusual Heat horse hasn’t won since
taking the Cougar II Handicap Aug. 5, 2009 at Del Mar. The California bred has eight wins in 54 lifetime
starts with earnings of $885,171.
Worth Repeating will try to give
trainer Richard Mandella, who has been in the Hall of Fame since 2001, his
fourth Turf Cup victory. The Giant’s Causeway
colt, who has yet to win a graded stakes, has two wins in 15 attempts for
Spendthrift Farm LLC. The 4-year-old is out of the A.P. Indy mare Lady
Nichola.
Mandella’s Turf Cup successes came
with The Hague
(1982), Lazy Lode (1999) and Boboman (2006).
Like Worth Repeating, Big Shot Syd
is without a stakes win. In fact, this will be the first stakes
appearance for the 4-year-old gelded son of Chapel Royal and the Pleasant Tap
mare Mighty Fine Music. Big Shot Syd has won twice in eight starts and earned
$72,720 for Budget Stable and trainer Janet Armstrong.
The Turf Cup, which is the first of
five Grade I’s to be run during Hollywood
Park’s Autumn meet, is
the eighth of nine races. Post time Saturday is 12:30 p.m.
From inside out, the field for the
$250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup: Worth Repeating, Rafael Bejarano rides, 126
pounds; Treat Gently, Patrick Valenzuela, 123; Unusual Suspect, Corey Nakatani,
126; Buenos Dias, Brice Blanc, 126; Where’s the Remote, Mike Smith, 126;
Marlang, Joel Rosario, 126; Temple City, Joe Talamo, 126 and Big Shot Syd,
David Flores, 126.