A field of 11 go in Monday’s $300,000 Shoemaker Mile (G1) at Santa Anita. (photo credit: © Cheryl Quigley | Dreamstime.com)
Trainer Chad Brown ships in a tough looking duo to Santa Anita for Monday’s $300,000 Shoemaker Mile (G1), one of three graded stakes on the Memorial Day card.
Brown sends out Without Parole (4-1) who was 11th in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) without Lasix as well as Raging Bull (7-2), who was a troubled fourth in the Woodbine Mile (G1) in his last outing last September.
The Shoemaker Mile is the first U.S. based Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” race. The winner stamps a fee-expenses paid trip to the Breeders Cup Mile (G1) at Keeneland on Nov. 7.
The race drew a solid field of 11 runners including last year’s Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War of Will. The Mark Casse trainee returns to grass for the first time since a fifth-place finish in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).
“Thank goodness he had a terrible trip,” Casse said of his Breeders’ Cup effort, “because if he’d have won, he may have never tried the dirt, so sometimes you have to be happy with what doesn’t happen.”
“War of Will’s been training exceptionally well,” the trainer added. “He’s a Grade 1 winner on dirt (in the Preakness), so we’ll see if we can make him a Grade 1 winner on the turf.”
The co-features on Monday’s card at Santa Anita are the $200,000 Monrovia (G2) which drew a field of eight fillies and mares that will go 5 ½ furlongs on turf and the $300,000 Gamely (G1) for fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles on turf that drew a field of 11.
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The Shoemaker will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network during a 90-minute telecast that starts at 6:30 ET. FS2 will cover the action from Churchill Downs from 1:00 to 6:00 ET
Let’s head out to Santa Anita for Monday’s featured race of the year:
Santa Anita Race 9 The Shoemaker Mile G1 Post time 4:38 PT
1 Without Parole 4-1
8 Raging Bull 7-2
5 War of Will 4-1
11 River Boyne 4-1
Without Parole
The five-year-old returns off a return off a four month break after failing to fire in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) last out, checking in 11th. Note he raced without Lasix in that outing. In his U.S. debut two back he made a good late rally to finish third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), beaten 2 ¾ lengths. The runner up Get Stormy returned to win the Matriarc (G1) in her next start on Dec. 1. This guy has not won since taking the St. James Palace Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot back in June of ’18 but has made just seven starts since that victory. The Brown barn is 26% winners with runners coming back off a 61-180-day layoff. The son of Frankel gets his Lasix back and the cut back to a mile suits him.
Raging Bull
This Brown trainee is returning off a 6 ½ month layoff. He went 0 for 5 last year, his best finish a runner up in the Fourstardave ‘Cap (G1) last summer at Saratoga. In his last start in the Woodbine Mile (G1) he had a trough trip. He was pinched back leaving him last in the early going. He started picking up momentum splitting rivals and then was interfered with in deep stretch, finishing fourth and beaten 1 ¼ lengths. The offender was Lucullan, who came back to win the Knickerbocker (G2) in his next outing. He could use some pace which is no sure thing here. Brown is 28% winners with runners coming back off a +180-day layoff. A solid one-two punch for Brown who is 4 for 13 shipping here dating back two years, three of those wins coming in Breeders’ Cup races.
War of Will
Last year’s Preakness Stakes (G1) winner returns to turf here for the first time since his two-year-old season. His first four career starts came on turf including a runner up finish in the Summer (G1) at Woodbine in his second career start. This will be his first start since running ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). He is bred to like grass, out of a Sadler’s Wells mare that has dropped four turf winners including Group 1 winner Pathfork ($237,831). The colt has been working sharply at Palm Meadows for his return. He may win a few turf races this year, but this is a really tough spot here.
