The connections associated with Subsanador differ since he ran second in the March 3 Santa Anita Handicap (G1), but one thing unchanged is his status as one of California's best dirt routers.
On May 27, the son of Fortify competes in the $200,000 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park as one of the favorites, facing seven rivals, led by graded stakes winners Mr Fisk and Reincarnate. The race on Memorial Day marks his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, who began training him for Wathnan Racing following a private sale.
Flavien Prat also climbs aboard, replacing jockey Hector Berrios, who rode Subsanador in the Santa Anita Handicap, in which the 5-year-old set the pace before being run down by Newgate by a head over the same 1 1/4-mile distance of the Gold Cup.
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The horse had previously been fourth with a between-horses trip under Prat in the Dec. 26 San Antonio Stakes (G2) in his only other start in the United States. Subsanador had previously been a dirt star in races from a mile to 1 1/8 miles in Argentina, where he was born and raised.
John Sadler trained him for Stud Facundito in his two U.S. starts.
Subsanador breezed in hand with Mandella's graded stakes-winning Ruby Nell May 20 in his final workout for Monday's race at Santa Anita. He was clocked covering five furlongs in 1:00 3/5.
Mandella has a history of developing former South American runners into high-performing horses in the U.S., including Hollywood Gold Cup winners Gentlemen (ARG) (1997) and Siphon (BRZ) (1996).
Although Subsanador does not have to repel the Bob Baffert-trained Newgate Monday—the latter ran ninth in the March 30 Dubai World Cup (G1) and has not breezed this month, leaving him out of the race—two of his stablemates are in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
Mr Fisk—a winner of three of his last four starts, including the Californian Stakes (G3) over Hollywood Gold Cup longshots Judge Miller and Mixto—is a major player for Baffert, as is Reincarnate, third in the Santa Anita Handicap and a last-out fourth in the April 20 Oaklawn Handicap (G2).
Either of the two could provide Baffert with a record-extending 10th victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
The Hall of Fame trainer won last year's race with Defunded. The victory pushed him past the legendary Charlie Whittingham for most Gold Cup wins of all time.
The Hollywood Gold Cup, first run in 1938 and captured in the inaugural running by the legendary Seabiscuit, moved to Santa Anita Park in 2014 following Hollywood Park's demise. It was won by eventual Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winners Accelerate and Vino Rosso in 2018 and 2019, respectively. After four lesser renewals, the American Graded Stakes Committee downgraded it from grade 1 status for this year.
Santa Anita, which overpaid purses in prior meets, cut the value of the Hollywood Gold Cup from $400,000 to $200,000 for 2024.
Santa Anita Park, Monday, May 27, 2024, Race 10Entries: Hollywood Gold Cup S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Reincarnate (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 122 Bob Baffert 4/1 2 2Ashcroft (KY) Kent J. Desormeaux 122 Robert B. Hess, Jr. 15/1 3 3Judge Miller (KY) Lanfranco Dettori 122 Mark Glatt 5/2 4 4Oviatt Class (VA) Umberto Rispoli 122 Vladimir Cerin 30/1 5 5Mr Fisk (KY) Kazushi Kimura 124 Bob Baffert 2/1 6 6Subsanador (ARG) Flavien Prat 124 Richard E. Mandella 5/2 7 7Mixto (KY) Antonio Fresu 122 Doug F. O'Neill 12/1 8 8Arrowthegreat (KY) Victor Espinoza 122 Juan Landeros 30/1
