Also meriting major consideration are fellow California-bred gelding Ward 'n Jerry, a recent winner of a two starter allowance marathons on turf and Red King, a runaway winner of last year's San Juan Capistrano who most recently finished a half length behind the top selection in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes on May 29.

A 7-year-old California-bred gelding by Acclimation, out of the Boundary mare Knows No Bounds, Acclimate opened up by three lengths after the first half mile in the Whittingham and ended up second, beaten a head by the David Hofmans-trained Award Winner, when ridden for the first time by Ricky Gonzalez.

Juan Hernandez, the meet's second leading rider, will take over for the first time on Saturday. Acclimate, who took the 2019 San Juan Capistrano running in gate to wire fashion in combination with the now-departed Martin Garcia will be making his second appearance in the San Juan. Owned by the Ellwood Johnston Family Trust, Timmy Time Racing, LLC and Ken Tevelde, Acclimate was bred in-part by the Johnston family's Old English Rancho. A two-time graded stakes winner he is 24-6-4-4 and has earnings of $497,872.

Head and head for the early lead in last year's San Juan, Ward 'n Jerry ended up third, beaten five lengths by Red King. An 8-year-old gelding by Lucky Pulpit, Ward 'n Jerry appears on edge for trainer Mike Puype, as he rallied for a sharp head victory in a mile and one quarter starter allowance on Feb. 20 and stretched out to a half length score in a mile and one half turf starter allowance March 20.

Owned and bred in California by Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams, Ward 'n Jerry, who is out of the Dehere mare Tamarack Bay, will be ridden for the fourth consecutive time by leading man Flavien Prat and will no doubt take some beating on Saturday. With an overall mark of 27-8-2-4, he has earnings of $468,259.

A 4 ¼ length winner of last year's San Juan and a close third in the 2019 running, Red King, who got the jump on highly accomplished United in taking the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap five starts back on Aug. 22, has plenty of class and the return services of regular rider Umberto Rispoli. A 7-year-old full horse by English Channel, Red King would relish a fast pace as he seeks his second San Juan win in what will be his third appearance.

Owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Gordon Jacobsen and Phillip Belmonte, Red King, who is 32-7-4-9 with earnings of $471,755, is trained by meet-leader Phil D'Amato, who holds a 46-42 edge over Peter Miller with three days remaining.

THE GRADE 3 SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 11 of 11 Approximate post time 6:00 p.m. PT

1. Lure Him In – Edwin Maldonado – 122
2. Red King – Umberto Rispoli – 124
3. Ward 'n Jerry – Flavien Prat – 122
4. Acclimate – Ricardo Gonzalez – 122
5. Pillar Mountain – Joe Bravo – 122
6. Astronaut – Victor Espinoza – 122

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The 8-year-old gelded son of Lucky Pulpit – bred in California by long-time successful proponents of racing in the Golden State,  Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams – seeks his third straight victory next Saturday when he runs in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 ¾ miles on turf at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

“This has been my destination race for him and he's ready to roll,” trainer Mike Puype said.

Ward 'n Jerry, a committed closer in a career of 27 races, of which he has won eight and earned $468,259, turned in an uncharacteristic performance in last year's San Juan, setting the pace before finishing third, beaten five lengths.

“He's doing good,” said Puype, enjoying a typically solid meet with 27 victories from 124 starts, a 22 percent winning average, with earnings of $1,201,884.

“The horse ran off a little bit in the race last year but he's not doing that anymore, so he should be all right this time around.”

Ward 'n Jerry worked five furlongs on the main track Saturday morning in 1:02 flat.

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Ward 'n Jerry won the second leg of the challenging marathon on Feb. 20, coming from well off the pace as usual to take the mile and a quarter turf event by a head as the 4-5 favorite under Flavien Prat who is back aboard Saturday.

The “Tin Man” series provides distance-progressive opportunity for older horses that have started for a claiming price of $40,000 or less dating back to 2019 to run in four races that began at a mile and one eighth on Jan. 18 and will conclude at a mile and three-quarters on April 24.

In addition to the winner's share from this Saturday's Tin Man, the winner will get a free berth into either the Grade 2, $200,000 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 ¼ miles on turf May 29, or the Grade 3, $100,000 San Juan Capistrano at 1 ¾ miles on turf June 19.

The series is named in honor of Ralph and Aury Todd's homebred son of Affirmed, The Tin Man, who was foaled in 1998 and raced through age nine in 2007. Trained by Richard Mandella, The Tin Man was a multiple graded stakes winner and a two-time Grade 1 winner at age nine, after which he was retired with earnings of more than $3.6 million.

“Our hope is this distance series serves as a throwback to some of the legendary horses that have competed at Santa Anita and the races provide good betting opportunities,” said Santa Anita's Director of Racing and Racing Secretary Chris Merz.

“This race came up a lot tougher than the last one,” said Puype, who has had California-bred Ward 'n Jerry going on six years now for owners/breeders Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams, longtime successful supporters of racing in The Golden State.

“This is a very solid race for the purse level, no doubt ($47,000, plus up to $5,640 to Cal-bred winners),” Puype said. “You've got Oscar Dominquez and Red King (each a Grade 2 stakes winner) running for $47,000. Tartini's not bad, either, so it's no easy race by any stretch.

“But we've surely got a good chance. He's got a great rider (Flavien Prat, who pilots the 8-year-old Lucky Pulpit gelding for the eighth time, winning twice); we're ready to go.”

Ward 'n Jerry has a 7-2-4 record from 27 starts with earnings of $434,419.

“I've had Ward 'n Jerry since his 2-year-old season (back in 2015),” Puype said. “He's very nice to have around and it's nice to have a horse for that many years. He's been here longer than any of them. He's kind of like the chairman of the board at the barn.”

Leg three of The Tin Man series, which goes as race five: Lure Him In, Edwin Maldonado, 5-1; Red King, Umberto Rispoli, 5-2; Ward 'n Jerry, Flavien Prat, 3-1; New Year, Tyler Baze, 50-1; Oscar Dominguez, Mario Gutierrez, 4-1; The Stiff, Alexis Centeno, 12-1; Tartini, Juan Hernandez, 4-1; and Irish Heatwave, Abel Cedillo, 8-1.

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The marathon will go as Race 7 on the nine-race Thanksgiving Friday card. Though 14 horses have been named to run, only 12 will go due to safety considerations. The two also-eligibles will get a chance if there is a scratch in the main body of the field.

A trio of out-of-towners add special spice to the handicapping stew – Donegal Racing, Bulger and Coneway's Arklow, Manfred Ostermann's Laccario and Agave Racing Stable or Sam-Son Farm's Say the Word. They'll all be making their Del Mar debuts.

The race also has drawn its defending champion – Messineo or Sands' Oscar Dominguez, who rallied through the lane to win by a neck over turf star United in last year's running. It additionally has lured back a pair of runners who have been there before – Mr. & Mrs. Larry Williams' Ward 'n Jerry, third in the Turf Cup last year, and Little Red Feather and Tavares' Marckie's Water, fourth in the 2018 edition of the race.

Here's the lineup for the feature from the rail out with riders and morning line odds: Messino and Sands' North County Guy (Mario Gutierrez, 15-1); Oscar Dominguez (Irad Ortiz, Jr., 15-1); Little Red Feather, Jacobsen or Belmonte's Red King (Umberto Rispoli, 5-1); Say the Word (Flavien Prat, 5-1); Arklow (Joel Rosario, 5/2); Old Bones Racing Stable, Slam Dunk Racing or Nentwig's Gregorian Chant (Ricky Gonzalez, 20-1); The Ellwood Johnston Trust, Timmy Time Racing or Tevelde's Acclimate (Tyler Baze, 12-1); Laccario (Manny Franco, 3-1); Ward 'n Jerry (Jose Valdiva, Jr., 20-1); Benowitz Family Trust, Madaket Stables or Mathiesen's Proud Pedro (Juan Hernandez, 20-1); Marckie's Water (Tiago Pereira, 30-1), and Team Block's Another Mystery (Mike Smith, 10-1). The two also-eligibles are Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal's Tartini (Baze on a second call, 30-1) and CYBT, Nentwig or Weiner's Fivestar Lynch (Abel Cedillo, 30-1).

If you look in the money-won column, it is “no contest” in this one with the 6-year-old Arch horse Arklow the biggest of the big dogs. The bay named for an Irish seaside town about 35 miles south of Dublin has banked $2,546,116 in his stellar career so far and shows seven wins and seven seconds from 30 starts. Twenty-four of those starts have been in stakes races, including outings in the last three runnings of the Breeders' Cup Turf. This will be the 12th different racetrack where the stretch runner has performed and the 11th time he's run a mile and one half. He's trained by Brad Cox, currently the second-leading trainer in the country with more than $17 million in purses this year.

Say the Word, a 5-year-old Canadian-bred gelding by More Than Ready, comes into the race off a smart win in the Grade I Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine on October 18. A winner of five races and $445,292 in purses, the stretch runner has been shifted to the barn of trainer Phil D'Amato for his West Coast debut.

Say the Word is one of four horses D'Amato has entered in the marathon. The others are Red King, winner of the Del Mar Handicap here on August 22; Gregorian Chant, a 4-year-old gelding looking for his first stakes win, and Acclimate, a 6-year-old gelding making his first start since running in the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2019 at Santa Anita.

Loccario is a German-bred 4-year-old colt who ran in his homeland up until an allowance start at Belmont Park on October 3. He was a Group I winner overseas and now takes his training from H. Graham Motion.

First post for the Friday card is 12:30 p.m.

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Breaking from the top of Santa Anita's legendary Camino Real Turf Course, Red King was unhurried early and was fifth, about nine lengths off of dueling leaders Kershaw and Ward 'n Jerry.  Fifth, but only five lengths back as the field angled up the backside, Red King moved into third, about 2 ½ lengths off the leaders midway around the far turn and wheeled three-deep turning for home, from where he inhaled Ward 'n Jerry approaching the furlong pole.

“Growing up here in LA, this was always one of my favorite races as a kid,” said D'Amato.  “I remember I used to stand on the apron way past the wire and watch them come home in this race, just so I could take it all in.  It's an amazing race and it's really cool to win it.

“My horse won his last race and that picked his confidence up.  It looked like maybe the favorite moved a little soon and Umberto was in the right spot.”

A first condition allowance winner going a flat mile on turf May 24, Red King was off at 7-2 and paid $9.80, $4.80 and $2.60.

Owned by Little Red Feather Racing Gordon Jacobsen and Philip Belmonte, Red King, who is out of the A.P. Indy mare Youre Speeding, picked up his first ever stakes win and his sixth win from 27 career starts.  With the winner's share of $60,000, he now has earnings of $278,115.

“It was my first time going from the top of the downhill and … it is beautiful,” said Italian native Rispoli, who was also riding Red King for the first time.  “The grass is amazing, it's a really good track.  It's been a long time since I've gone so far in a race because in Europe, we used to go quite enough every day.  But it was a good feeling, obviously you need a horse like that.”

Siberian Iris, the lone female in the lineup, rallied from far back for the place, finishing three quarters of a length in front of Ward 'n Jerry.  Ridden by Drayden Van Dyke Siberian Iris was off at 7-1 and paid $6.20 and $3.20.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Ward 'n Jerry tired badly late and at 3-5, paid $2.10 to show.

Fractions on the race were 23.21, 46.66, 1:10.66, 1:37.53, 2:04.62 and 2:30.47.

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The 81st renewal of the San Juan, Santa Anita's traditional closing day feature, will again include a hillside start at the top the Camino Real Turf Course, which first opened for business in December, 1953.

The main contenders:

WARD 'N JERRY
Owner:  Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams
Trainer:  Mike Puype
A homebred 7-year-old gelding by the late Lucky Pulpit, Ward 'n Jerry rates top billing in a wide open affair in which just one of the runners have ever run this far.  Although he was most recently a non threatening fifth in the statebred Crystal Water Stakes at one mile on turf June 6, he took the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at a mile and one half on grass by an impressive 1 ¼ lengths two starts back on March 21 in a manner that would suggest the added quarter mile should be within his reach as he retains the services of leading man Flavien Prat.

RED KING
Owner:  Little Red Feather Racing, Gordon Jacobsen & Phillip Belmonte
Trainer:  Phil D'Amato
A gutty nose winner of a one mile allowance here on May 24, this 6-year-old Kentucky-bred horse by English Channel has four wins and as many thirds from 11 races over the Santa Anita turf.  Third, beaten 1 ¾ lengths in last year's San Juan Capistrano, Red King checks every handicapping box in terms of good recent form, ability to get the trip and solid connections as he'll be ridden for the first time by turf specialist Umberto Rispoli for D'Amato on Sunday.

G3 SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 6 of 12  Approximate post time 3 p.m. PT

1. Soberano—Brice Blanc—122
2. Red King—Umberto Rispoli—122
3. Tintoretto—Ruben Fuentes—122
4. Siberian Iris—Drayden Van Dyke—119
5. Kershaw—Abel Cedillo—122
6. Swamp Souffle—Jose Valdivia, Jr.—122
7. Avalanche—Geovanni Franco—122
8. Ward 'n Jerry—Flavien Prat—126

First post time for a 12-race card on closing day, Sunday, is at 12:30 p.m.  For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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That's why the gelding owned and bred by Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams is coming back on a quick turnaround in next Sunday's traditional closing day feature, the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at a mile and three-quarters on turf.

One might say Ward 'n Jerry tuned up for the race in his last start on June 6 when he made a mild rally to finish fifth in the one-mile Crystal Water Stakes under 126 pounds.

“That wasn't quite his distance,” said Mike Puype, who sent out Ward 'n Jerry to win the G3 San Luis Rey Stakes at a mile and a half on grass March 21 at Santa Anita. “There's not really anything at Del Mar at a distance he likes so we have nothing to lose coming back here in just two weeks.

“Looking at the field, there's not that many horses of quality that can run that far, either. It's a good spot. … He's going to be pretty tough to beat in there.”

In 21 career races, Ward 'n Jerry has won six, with two seconds and three thirds for earnings of $375,579. All but his first three races–all sprints–have come on turf, the last 18 in a row at a mile or longer.

Puype, 53, a native of Phoenix, has been training since 1986, and has the utmost respect for Mr. and Mrs. Williams. “I've been with them a long time,” he said. “They're great clients.”

They live in Boise, Idaho, and in 1979 Williams founded the Idaho Timber Corporation, which grew into one of the top 10 private corporations in Idaho.

Should Puype capture the San Juan, it would still leave him in pursuit of a record that will never be broken, established by Charlie Whittingham, who won the race a remarkable 14 times.

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