Arrogate scaring away San Diego rivals

The field for Saturday’s Grade II $300,000 TVG San Diego Handicap was reduced to five Friday morning when trainer J. Keith Desormeaux opted for Sunday’s $75,000 Wickerr Stakes with Dalmore instead of taking on world No. 1 Arrogate.

That leaves Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate stablemate Cat Burglar, Accelerate, El Huerfano and Donworth to line up alongside Arrogate when the $17 million earner makes his first start since winning the Dubai World Cup in March.

The 76th running of the San Diego, a stepping stone to the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic on Saturday, August 19, will go as the ninth on a 10-race card which also includes the Grade II $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes five races earlier on the program.

Arrogate, ridden by Mike Smith, will carry 126 pounds, eight more than Cat Burglar. Arrogate will spot Accelerate nine pounds, 10 to Donworth and 11 to El Huerfano.

Typical of a handicap race where weights are assigned by the racing secretary, not all trainers were happy with their assignments. John Sadler, of Accelerate, and Peter Miller, of El Huerfano, not surprisingly, thought that Arrogate should have been given a higher impost.

Accelerate has three wins and been in the money 10 times in 11 starts, building earnings of $427,480 for the Hronis Racing LLC ownership. In his last start, Accelerate was third to Collected, beaten 1 ¾-lengths by runner-up Cat Burglar.

Miller articulated the aims of those with horses not named Arrogate in the San Diego.

“If we run second, it’s a win,” Miller said. El Huerfano has five wins in 27 career starts and is coming off an optional claiming score on June 17 at Santa Anita. He has career earnings of $303,041.

Doug O’Neill, trainer of Donworth, appears to be going into the race with his usual optimistic outlook.

“He’s a son of Tiznow, so he’s got the pedigree,” O’Neill said. “He was a little short going into his last race, and I think Mario (Gutierrez) did a great job of taking care of him. I think he got a lot of good out of that race and he’s had a lot of good open gallops since.” Donworth was fourth in the Precisionist Stakes at Santa Anita on June 17, beaten 17 lengths by Collected but only a neck behind third-place Accelerate.

“One great thing about this sport is that they’re not machines,” O’Neill said. “As much as Arrogate looks unbeatable, they all are beatable. If he’s not feeling it on Saturday and we are, we’ll shock the world.”