Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Accelerate can turn tables on City of Light in Gold Cup
Accelerate earned my respect by overcoming traffic trouble to win the San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita in February, and one month later, his ability on an off track gained my appreciation when he dominated the Santa Anita Handicap over a wet surface. Yet it is a loss April 14 in the Oaklawn Handicap that suggests to me he is the one to back in Saturday’s Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita.
Accelerate was beaten squarely in the Oaklawn Handicap by City of Light, who is back for another confrontation Saturday. Yet Accelerate distinguished himself by showing fight all the way down the stretch. Passed in early stretch, he came back from a half-length behind to lose by a neck.
Admittedly, City of Light seemed to be coasting a little, which might have given hope to Accelerate, but I doubt many other horses could have given him such a race under the circumstances. Both horses did some fast running, as evidenced by their 107 Beyer Speed Figures.
The Oaklawn Handicap was the day to play City of Light, and I say that as a fan of the horse who noted that he liked him in this space leading up to the race. He was an attractive price in the Oaklawn Handicap, starting at better than 9-2 odds, presumably due to his inexperience routing.
Having passed that 1 1/8-mile distance test, he will be a far shorter price in the Gold Cup, though some still may view him with skepticism since he is untested at the 1 1/4-mile distance. He figures to be somewhere in the 2-1 range.
Accelerate also is likely to be in that range, and given that, I would rather have him this time around. As gutsy as he is talented, he has an opportunity to turn the tables, though Dr. Dorr and, to a lesser extent, Pavel are others with a fighting chance.
Money Multiplier in Monmouth Stakes
Other than Santa Anita, no track has a better stakes program Saturday than Monmouth Park, where there are four stakes, two of them graded.
The headline race, the Grade 2 Monmouth at 1 1/8 miles on grass, seems deeper than usual in part because it became the backup plan for the graded stakes winners Divisidero and Frostmourne. They were scratched from last Saturday’s Grade 2 Dixie at Pimlico when unrelenting rain forced the turf race to be moved onto a sloppy main track.
Divisidero and Frostmourne are strong contenders, but I prefer Money Multiplier, who is seeking a repeat win in this race. He seems well suited to the race shape since the pace is likely to be slow.
One only need examine his race in the 2017 Monmouth for evidence of that. That day, he sat in third early, two lengths off a soft half-mile timed in more than 50 seconds, and broke loose when asked to go on the final turn.
I would not be surprised to see him show even more speed Saturday, based on his most recent start Feb. 24 in the Emir’s Trophy in Qatar. Racing 1 1/2 miles that day, he repeatedly fought jockey Frankie Dettori early, tossing his head, before Dettori gave him a free rein and the horse went to the lead.
Money Multiplier stuck around longer than most would have given the circumstances, leading until about a furlong out before fading to be third of 16 runners, beaten 1 1/4 lengths.
As keen as Money Multiplier was in that race, and now he is fresh off a threemonth layoff, trainer Chad Brown is making the right move by cutting him back in distance. If he had run him in the Grade 1 Man o’ War – in which he was entered a couple of weeks ago – he likely would have been too aggressive going that race’s 1 3/8-mile trip.