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Independence Hall, Magic On Tap Face Brazilian Royal Ship In Californian

Trainer Michael McCarthy's classy Independence Hall heads Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita, an iconic steppingstone to the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup, which will be run on Memorial Day, May 31. The Californian, for 3-year-olds and up, has a attracted a field of five to the Arcadia, Calif., track.

A Grade 3 winner going a one turn mile at age 2 in New York, Independence Hall, a 4-year-old colt by Constitution, comes off a solid fourth-place finish, beaten 2 ½ lengths, in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap March 6 and will be shortening up a furlong while retaining the services of leading man Flavien Prat.

A troubled third two starts back in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park Jan. 23, Independence Hall was keen early in the Big 'Cap and tired a bit late to be beaten a half length for third by race favorite and previously unbeaten Maxfield.

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC and Kathleen and Robert Veratti, Independence Hall was originally trained by eastern-based Michael Trombetta and will be making his fifth start for McCarthy on Saturday. With four wins, two of them stakes, from nine starts, Independence Hall is the top money earner in the field with $630,600.

Idle 15 months, Bob Baffert's Magic On Tap came back to the races running on March 28, as he stalked the early pace and drew off to an impressive 1 ½-length allowance win going 1 1/16 miles with Prat up. A Summer Wind Equine homebred, Magic On Tap is a 5-year-old horse by Tapit that has good natural speed and tremendous upside as he tries stakes competition for the first time in what will be his fifth start.

With Prat opting to stick with Independence Hall, Magic On Tap, who has two wins and as many seconds from four starts, will be ridden for the first time by Umberto Rispoli.

Perhaps the biggest question mark in Saturday's Californian is Brazilian-bred Royal Ship, who comes off a fast finishing fifth-place finish on turf to talented Hit the Road in the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 6 for trainer Richard Mandella. A Group 1 winner on grass in his native Brazil, he raced twice on dirt in his 11 starts, finishing third in his seven furlong debut in July 2019 and a troubled fourth in the G3 Native Diver Stakes two starts back on Nov. 21 at Del Mar.

With a recent race to his credit, Royal Ship, a 5-year-old gelding by Midshipman, looms dangerous in what will be his fifth stateside start for Mandella with regular rider Mike Smith back aboard. A winner of five consecutive turf races in Brazil, Royal Ship, who will be making his 12th career start, need only finish as well on dirt as he did in the grassy Kilroe on March 6 to be a major factor Saturday as he seeks his first local win.

GRADE II CALIFORNIAN WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS
IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT

Growth Engine—Tyler Baze—122
Magic On Tap—Umberto Rispoli—122
Country Grammer—Abel Cedillo–124
Royal Ship—Mike Smith—122
Independence Hall—Flavien Prat–122

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 1 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Maxfield Looms Large in Big ‘Cap

The undefeated Maxfield (Street Sense) looks to put on yet another show for racing fans Saturday as he invades the West Coast for the first time in the GI Santa Anita H. A debut winner at Churchill in September, the Godolphin homebred romped in Keenland's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. a month later. The early favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, he was scratched after spiking a fever just days before the race. Resurfacing May 23 at Churchill, the bay captured the GIII Matt Winn S., but was knocked off the GI Kentucky Derby trail after suffering a condylar fracture in a workout a month later. Making another successful return in the Tenacious S. at the Fair Grounds Dec. 19, Maxfield turned in another impressive performance when taking that venue's GIII Mineshaft S. Feb. 13.

“He's just a stronger horse now,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “I think as a two-year-old he was a bit immature, maybe not that strong, and that's why he wasn't getting away from the gate super-fast, but that didn't seem to have a negative affect upon him. That said, his last three starts he's been a lot closer to the pace.”

Express Train (Union Rags) looks to score his first win at the highest level here. Capturing a Del Mar optional claimer in August, he was second next out there a month later. Eighth when trying turf in the GII Twilight Derby Oct. 18, the bay completed the exacta behind Charlatan (Speightstown) in the GI Malibu S. Dec. 26. The $500,000 KEESEP buy rebounded with a decisive score in this venue's GII San Pasqual S.

Independence Hall (Constitution)–a dominant winner of the 2019 GIII Nashua S.– was transferred from Mike Trombetta to Mike McCarthy last spring. Rallying to victory in an optional claimer at Del Mar in his first start for McCarthy at Del Mar Nov. 8, the dark bay found the waters a bit too deep when fifth in the Malibu and was a respectable third behind Knicks Go (Paynter) last time in Gulfstream's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. Jan. 23.

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Knicks Go Never Headed Winning Pegasus World Cup Invitational

Breaking smoothly from the number four post position under Joel Rosario, Knicks Go sped to his fourth consecutive victory for trainer Brad Cox – and his richest to date – taking the Grade 1, $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Owned by the Korea Racing Authority, the Maryland-bred 5-year-old by Paynter won the Pegasus in wire-to-wire fashion, setting fractions of :22.90, :46.16, 1:09.91 and 1:34.82 en route to a final clocking of 1:47.89 for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track. He paid $4.60 as the 6-5 favorite.

Jesus' Team, who chased Knicks Go while second to him in the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 7, finished second again under Irad Ortiz Jr. Independence Hall finished third, with Sleepy Eyes Todd fourth and Code of Honor fifth in the field 12.

This was the fifth running of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, which was renamed from the G1 Donn Handicap in 2017 when Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate defeated Shaman Ghost to earn the winner's share of a $12-million purse that was put up by the owners of each horse competing. Subsequent winners were Steve Asmussen-trained Gun Runner in 2018 when the purse was increased to $16 million; Michael McCarthy-trained City of Light in 2019, when the purse was $9 million; and Mucho Gusto, also trained by Baffert, in 2020, when the purse was $2,944,600.

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Independence Hall Training Well After Malibu Flop, Will ‘Take A Swing’ At Pegasus

When last seen at Gulfstream Park, Independence Hall was finishing fifth in the track's marquee race for 3-year-olds, the 2020 Florida Derby (G1). Ten months later, the son of Constitution returns for Gulfstream's most important race for older horses, Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational (G1).

Much has changed between trips to South Florida for the colt co-owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Twin Creeks Racing Stables, and Kathleen and Robert Verratti. Following his disappointing finish as the 3-1 third choice in the Florida Derby, he was given a sabbatical and later moved from the East Coast-based trainer Michael Trombetta to Michael McCarthy in California.

McCarthy won the 2019 Pegasus with City of Light.

The Pegasus will be the first start for Independence Hall since he finished fifth of six, nearly 10 lengths behind Charlatan in the Malibu (G1) on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park. McCarthy expected a much stronger performance in the seven-furlong Malibu on the opening day of Santa Anita's winter season.

“For one reason or another, which I can't put my finger on, he just did not seem to fire that day,” McCarthy said. “I have to draw a line through it. The horse has trained forwardly since.”

Independence Hall has had two breezes this month. The most recent was six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Santa Anita on Saturday.

“His work was very, very good,” McCarthy said. “If you bring a horse into a $3 million race, I think this is the kind of work you want to bring him in off.”

Jockey Flavien Prat will ride Independence Hall for the first time in the Pegasus.

Robert Verratti purchased Independence Hall as a yearling from Constitution's first crop for $100,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September sale as a pinhooking prospect. On the advice of his bloodstock agent Dennis O'Neill, Verratti decided to hold onto the colt, as a buy-back at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale of 2-year-olds in 2019. After Independence Hall easily broke his maiden at Parx in September, Eclipse and Twin Creeks purchased interests in the colt.

Independence Hall promptly built his reputation as a Kentucky Derby prospect for his ownership group with a 12 ¼-length win in the Nashua (G3) and a 4 ½-length win in the Jerome at Aqueduct and was second as the 3-5 favorite in the Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs. The lackluster Florida Derby outing led to a pause in his career and a vacation at WinStar Farm.

“They just decided that he needed a little time off, a bit of a mental freshening more than anything. It seems to have done him some good,” McCarthy said. “The horse has come to me in very good order. The body of work he put together last year I thought was very good. We are just trying to go ahead and build on that.”

McCarthy said that Independence Hall arrived from Kentucky during the summer and was ready to resume training. He had his first breeze on Sept. 26 and won a 6 ½-furlong optional claimer on November 8.

“The horse fell into a pretty nice routine once he got here, was very straight forward,” McCarthy said. “The first race for us at Del Mar, obviously we were expecting a decent performance with him. I thought the way he won was more or less what we had been seeing in the morning. It was a perfect setup for a race like the Malibu.”

Though the Malibu did not work out as his connections had hoped, the colt came out of the race well and they decided the next challenge would be the nine-furlong Pegasus, which offers the highest purse in North America for older horses outside the Breeders' Cup.

“It was one of those things, as some of the invitees started falling by the wayside, this became more and more of an option,” McCarthy said. “It's $3 million. It's a good spot to take a swing at something like this. You may never get this chance again until Breeders' Cup time, nine months from now, for this kind of money. Why not?”

McCarthy welcomes the opportunity to join Hall of Famer Bob Baffert as a two-time Pegasus-winning trainer.

“That would be awfully nice,” he said. “I'm bringing a horse in who is training as well as I could ask him to be. We'll see what happens.”

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