Wooden Phone, who beat two-time Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) winner Tiznow in the Strub Stakes (gr. II) last February, heads a field of eight entered in Saturday's $200,000 San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita.
Wooden Phone will be ridden by David Flores and carry 119 pounds in the 65th running of the 1 1/16 mile race for 4-year-olds and up.
After winning the Strub Stakes, Wooden Phone finished second behind Tiznow in the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) last March, and went two more races without a victory before winning an allowance race at Hollywood Park on Nov. 14.
One of those losses came in the Oaklawn Handicap (gr. I) at Arkansas' Oaklawn Park, a trip trainer Bob Baffert would like to forget.
"That's (Ron) McAnally's track, they roll out the red carpet for him," Baffert said. "I don't care much for it myself. I told Bob Lewis one time, when we had Silver Charm, that we had a choice -- we could go to either Oaklawn Park or Dubai -- and I told him we should go to Dubai because it's easier to get to. You gotta take three planes to get to Hot Springs."
In the San Pasqual, Wooden Phone will be attempting to emulate Silver Charm, who won the race a year after winning the Strub.
Wooden Phone, a 5-year-old Florida-bred son of Pick Up The Phone, has won four of 13 lifetime starts and earned $710,236. He is one of four Bob Baffert-trained horses nominated for the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) in March.
Euchre and Milwaukee Brew, both trained by Bobby Frankel, figure to be the top challengers to Wooden Phone.
Euchre, who will be ridden by Garrett Gomez and carry high weight of 120 pounds, has won six of 17 lifetime starts and earned $711,545. Milwaukee Brew will be ridden by Alex Solis and carry 114 pounds.
Euchre and Milwaukee Brew will run coupled in the wagering as a Stronach Stables entry.
The field for the 1 1/16-mile feature will consist of:
1--(E) Milwaukee Brew, Alex Solis, 114
2--Casey Griffin, Eddie Delahoussaye, 114
3--Red Eye, Danny Sorenson, 112
4--Last Parade, Laffit Pincay Jr., 114
5--Seinne, Chris McCarron, 113
6--Irisheyesareflying, Kent Desormeaux, 119
7--(E) Euchre, Garrett Gomez, 120
8--Wooden Phone, David Flores, 119.
(E)--Denotes Stronach Stables entry.
