Donworth will take on Arrogate in San Diego

The harsh implications of starting Donworth against Arrogate in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 22 stings trainer Doug O’Neill.

“He’s a nice horse, but you feel like he’s an up-and-comer going against LeBron James,” O’Neill said. “You hope for the best.”

Arrogate has won two eightfigure races this year – the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January and the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 25 – and is the world’s top-rated horse. Donworth was a well-beaten fourth under jockey Mario Gutierrez in the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes at Santa Anita on June 24 in his lone start of the year.

“He needed the race,” O’Neill said. “Mario took care of him. He got a little tired.”

Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Donworth will be part of a small field in the San Diego Handicap, which is run at 1 1/16 miles and leads to the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 19. Arrogate is bound for that race, too.

Donworth was bought for $550,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November breeding stock sale by the Reddams with the hope that he could develop into a high-class older horse. A 5-year-old, Donworth had only three starts in 2016, including third-place finishes in two Grade 2 races – the San Antonio Stakes and Charles Town Classic in April.

Donworth was injured after the Charles Town Classic and did not race again until the Precisionist last month.

“He had a few little injuries, and we took our time,” O’Neill said.

The task of beating Arrogate may be impossible, but the everoptimistic O’Neill is pressing forward. Even a second would be a promising result.

“We want to win,” O’Neill said. “I want to see him run to his ability.”

Top local 3-year-olds work

Battle of Midway and American Anthem, two of the best 3-year-olds based on the West Coast, will be taking their acts on the road, with Battle of Midway headed to the Haskell at Monmouth on July 30 and American Anthem going to the Allen Jerkens, formerly the King’s Bishop, at Saratoga on Aug. 26.

Both will decamp for summer training at Del Mar, but before heading south, they each turned in workouts on a warm Friday morning at Santa Anita.

Battle of Midway, with regular rider Flavien Prat aboard, pulled away from workmate Southern Freedom through the lane in an eye-catching drill in 1:12.40 for six furlongs.

“He used to want to wait on horses. Not anymore,” said Dan Ward, the local assistant to Battle of Midway’s trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer.

Battle of Midway most recently won the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 24. That was his lone start since finishing third in the Kentucky Derby.

American Anthem also had been under consideration for the Haskell, but trainer Bob Baffert on Friday said he was going to keep him around one turn for the time being. American Anthem most recently won the Grade 2 Woody Stephens on the Belmont Stakes card, which followed a victory in the Grade 3 Laz Barrera at Santa Anita. Both of those races are at seven furlongs, as is the Grade 1 Jerkens.

On Friday, American Anthem worked five furlongs in company in 1:00 and went so easily that Santa Anita’s clockers termed the work “breezing.” It was the lone work of 205 on Friday morning here designated as such.

“Perfect,” Baffert said as American Anthem galloped out. “I was going to send him to the Haskell, but I don’t think he’s ready to go long.”

American Anthem finished 12th of 13 in the Santa Anita Derby in his last two-turn try.

Dortmund resumes training

Dortmund, the winner of the 2015 Santa Anita Derby, recently resumed training after being announced as retired in early April. Trainer Art Sherman said Thursday that Dortmund, a son of Big Brown, has been at his stable at Los Alamitos since the start of July.

“He’s jogging a few miles a day,” Sherman said. “He’ll jog for 30 days. We’ll see what happens.”

Dortmund was taken out of training after two disappointing races. At the time, owner Kaleem Shah said he was discouraged by Dortmund’s sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf at Santa Anita on March 11 and his fourth in the Santana Mile on dirt April 1.

“When I saw him get beat the last time, I thought that was enough,” Shah said at the time.

Shah said in April that he hoped to complete a stallion deal for Dortmund.

A 5-year-old, Dortmund has won 8 of 16 starts and earned $1,987,505. The Santa Anita Derby is the most prestigious win of his career. Dortmund was trained by Bob Baffert until the start of this year, when Shah and Baffert parted ways.

Dortmund was third to American Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby and was winless in four starts last year, including a second to eventual Horse of the Year California Chrome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes last October.

Sherman said he is taking a cautious approach with Dortmund.

“Until you start breezing, you don’t know, but right now, he looks pretty good,” Sherman said. “We’ll keep a low profile and watch him.”