Though he has never had much success on the Santa Anita Park main track, Tres Borrachos is the likely favorite for the $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 7.
Tres Borrachos has one third-place showing from seven starts on the main track at Santa Anita. The 123-pound high weight is among eight entered for the 1 1/16-mile San Pasqual, the first local stakes prep for the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) in two months. The race is set for a 4:07 p.m. PST post as the eighth on the nine-race program.
After Marty Jones took over the training for George Hicker and Button Stable last year, the long-struggling Tres Borrachos won the San Diego Handicap (gr. II) at Del Mar. That snapped a 13-race losing streak before the gelded son of Ecton Park finished fifth in the Goodwood Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita.
But the 7-year-old has raced very well in his two most recent starts since the Goodwood. Tres Borrachos finished third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) at odds of 30-1 in November at Churchill Downs. In his next try, he just missed capturing the Native Diver Handicap (gr. III) on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track Dec. 3.
He set the pace in the Native Diver but was tagged late by Kettle Corn , who is skipping the San Pasqual. A lifetime winner of just four of 35 races but with earnings of $884,257, Tres Borrachos retains the services of Joel Rosario.
The San Pasqual also attracted Tweebster and Massone, third and fourth, respectively, in the Native Diver. Tweebster, trained by Bob Baffert for Kaleem Shah, has not won in more than a year but had three seconds and a third in five starts during 2011. Massone, from the Tim Yakteen barn for Frankfurt Stable, has just two wins in 28 lifetime starts but has banked $513,342.
Besides Tres Borrachos, there are just two other graded stakes winners in the San Pasqual field. Skipshot , who didn’t win in five starts last year for Jerry Hollendorfer after returning from more than 13 months on the sidelines, defeated Sidney's Candy in Hollywood Park’s Swaps Stakes (gr. II) in July 2010. Arizona-bred Uh Oh Bango, trained by Kory Owens for Triple AAA Ranch, was victorious in the Berkeley Stakes (gr. III) at Golden Gate Fields last May.
Jerry and Ann Moss' Utopian tries dirt for the first time in his stakes debut for trainer John Shirreffs. The 5-year-old son of Rock Hard Ten won a 10-furlong optional claimer on the Hollywood Park turf in his most recent start Nov. 25.
$150,000 San Pasqual Stakes (gr. II, Race 8, 4:07 p.m.), 4 & Up, 1 1/16 Miles
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Skipshot (KY), J Talamo, 118, J Hollendorfer
2. Thirtyfirststreet (CA), H I Berrios, 118, D F O'Neill
3. Java Man (PA), G K Gomez, 118, J W Sadler
4. Tweebster (KY), R Bejarano, 118, B Baffert
5. Utopian (KY), C Sutherland, 118, J A Shirreffs
6. Tres Borrachos (KY), J Rosario, 123, M F Jones
7. Uh Oh Bango (AZ), M E Smith, 118, R K Owens
8. Massone (KY), M Garcia, 118, T Yakteen
Blinkers On: Thirtyfirststreet, Tweebster