Jockey Club Tour on Fox Features Classic Rematch in Santa Anita Handicap

Horse racing in the spring is centered around the top three-year-olds as they prep for the Kentucky Derby, but the Run for the Roses will have to take a back seat on Saturday afternoon, as the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) has brought together three of the top horses in the handicap division for a classic rematch.

Mucho Macho Man was a nose better than Will Take Charge in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and the duo will renew acquaintances for the first time since that classic battle over the Santa Anita main track on Nov. 2.

Adding intrigue is Game On Dude, who won the Big ‘Cap in 2011 and 2013 and was sent off as the betting favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. However, the gelding disappointed his backers, fading to finish a well-beaten ninth after attending the early pace.

The race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 as part of the Jockey Club Tour on Fox, with the 30-minute broadcast getting underway at 7 p.m. ET. 

The Big ‘Cap will be run for the 77th time on Saturday, and it has been won by some of the all-time greats, including Seabiscuit, Round Table, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry, and Alysheba.

Let’s take a look at the major players in this year’s Big ‘Cap.

Mucho Macho Man

After running second in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Mucho Macho Man got the job done in 2013, holding off the late charge of Will Take Charge by a nose. Trained by Kathy Ritvo, the son of Macho Uno was a finalist for the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 2013.

Ritvo, who had a heart transplant in 2008, is the only female trainer to saddle a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner. The jockey Gary Stevens, a member of the Hall of Fame, came back from a seven-year retirement last January and capped off his comeback year with an outstanding ride on the Classic winner.

Mucho Macho Man did not get off to a good start in 2013, as he was pulled up in the Sunshine Millions Classic, but there was no such problem when the now six-year-old made his 2014 debut in the same race. Under a confident ride from Stevens, it was a 14-length tour de force in this year’s Sunshine Millions Classic.

There is not much question about which horse the Village People will be rooting for and wagering on:

Will Take Charge

Trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, the colt had an amazing turnaround in 2013. The colt was beaten by a combined 45 lengths in the Triple Crown races yet still managed to garner the Eclipse Award for top three-year-old in 2013.

The colt bounced back in the second half of 2013 with victories in the Travers (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G2), and after his tough beat in the Classic, the colt came back to win the Clark Handicap (G1) at Churchill Downs by a head over Game on Dude.  The colt won five of his 11 starts and earned $2,984,000 on the year.

The colt made his four-year-old debut in the Donn Handicap (G1), the first race of the Jockey Club Tour on Fox. He was sent off as the betting favorite but could not catch Lea in the stretch and had to settle for the runner-up spot. The colt was better than nine lengths clear of the rest of the field in the effort.

Game On Dude

The Bob Baffert trainee is one of four horses to have won the Big ‘Cap twice, an exclusive club that includes John Henry, Milwaukee Brew and Lava Man.

The gelding has won seven of his 10 starts over the Santa Anita main track, but two of his losses were the most disappointing, as he was the beaten favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic the past two years, costing him Horse of the Year honors.

He bounced back from his ninth-place finish in the Classic last year with a game effort in the Clark in his head loss, but he was a disappointing fifth in the San Antonio as the big favorite in his most recent outing, finishing 6 1/2 lengths behind Blingo.

Will we see the Dude that won the 2013 Big ‘Cap by 7 3/4 lengths? Or will we see the Dude that was soundly beaten by 11 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Classic?

Others in the field with a shot of pulling off the upset include San Antonio winner Blingo and Hear the Ghost, who won last year’s San Felipe (G2) over the Santa Anita main track. Completing the field are Imperative and American Blend, the second- and third-place finishers in the San Antonio, respectively, and Rousing Sermon, who was fifth in the San Pasqual (G2) in his last start.

Equibase past performances for the Santa Anita Handicap. 

Follow Michael Dempsey on Twitter @turfnsport