Segway Tries Dirt in Tokyo City Cup
When it comes to training, Richard Mandella isn’t the kind of guy who flies by the seat of his pants. Usually, that is. But you don’t win four Breeders’ Cup races in one day and gain entrance to racing’s Hall of Fame by being married to an inflexible ideology.
That in mind, Mandella will send out Segway in a main track foray for the first time Saturday when the gelded son of Giant’s Causeway runs in the Grade III, $100,000 Tokyo City Cup for older horses at a mile and a half on dirt, the first time in his seven-race career he has raced on a surface other than grass.
Segway achieved a fourth-place finish after setting the pace in the Grade II San Marcos Stakes at 1 ¼ miles on turf last out, Feb. 8, and a third in the Grade II Hollywood Turf Cup on Dec. 14, again leading into the stretch in the mile and a half event.
“He’s working well on the dirt and the Tokyo City is a mile and a half, so it would be interesting to see if he could do it. He trains like he wants to,” Mandella said.
The Tokyo City Cup field: Tiz Dynamic, Rafael Bejarano, 4-1; Ever Rider, Victor Espinoza, 6-1; American Blend, Joe Talamo, 4-1; Segway, Gary Stevens, 4-1; Toccetive, Fernando Perez, 30-1; Blueskiesnrainbows, Corey Nakatani, 5-2; Niagara Falls, Aaron Gryder, 12-1; and Majestic Harbor, Tyler Baze, 7-2.
Segway worked five furlongs on the main track Monday in 1:02.40.
In conjunction with the Tokyo City Cup, Santa Anita will present Japan Family Day Saturday, featuring the Ramen Yokocho Festival in the infield. First post time is 12:30 p.m.