Flying Scotsman will be winging it in Kilroe

In the summer of 2019, Flying Scotsman was a new arrival at trainer Jack Sisterson’s stable. Then 3, Flying Scotsman worked on turf at Keeneland with Sisterson and fellow trainer Wesley Ward watching.

“Wesley said, ‘That is a Grade 1 horse,’ ” Sisterson recalled on Wednesday.

Flying Scotsman has since won only an ungraded stakes at Fair Grounds, doing so by disqualification, and will have his Grade 1 debut in a tough running of the $400,000 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Sisterson and owner and breeder Calumet Farm decided on a start in the Kilroe Mile after watching Flying Scotsman lead throughout an allowance race at a mile on turf at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 13.

The same tactics will be employed in the Kilroe.

“We’re hiding nothing,” Sisterson said. “We know what we’ll do in the race. We’re going to the front.

“It wouldn’t shock me if he jumped up and won the race.”

Tyler Baze will ride Flying Scotsman for the first time in the Kilroe Mile. By English Channel, Flying Scotsman has won 4 of 11 starts and earned $163,259. On Jan. 9, Flying Scotsman finished fifth of eight in the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Stakes at a mile at Gulfstream Park, a race won by top Kilroe candidate Ride a Comet.

The Tropical Turf Stakes was Flying Scotsman’s first start since June. Flying Scotsman raced in midpack and was never a factor. Sisterson blamed himself for the loss.

“I made a mistake and trained the speed out of him,” Sisterson said. “He wants to be on the lead.”

Flying Scotsman will not have an easy time in the Kilroe.

Several formidable runners will race from stalking positions.

Aside from Ride a Comet, top candidates include the local 4-year-olds Hit the Road and Smooth Like Strait – who both have won stakes at the meeting – as well as the New York stakes winner Casa Creed, second in the Tropical Turf, and Flavius and Spirit Animal, trained by Chad Brown.

Anothertwistafate, winner of the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 2, but last of 12 in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 23, was held out of the race, trainer Peter Miller said. Anothertwistafate has not had a workout in recent weeks.

The Kilroe is one of four graded stakes on what should be an outstanding 11-race program. First post time is noon Pacific.

The Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles also has a $400,000 purse and a competitive field expected to include Coastal Defense, Express Train, Idol, Independence Hall, King Guillermo, Kiss Today Goodbye, Maxfield, and Tizmagician.

The Big Cap will be the California debut for the undefeated Maxfield, a four-time stakes winner trained by Brendan Walsh. Express Train, Tizamagician, and Idol were the first three finishers in the key local prep, the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 30.

Major Cabbie to San Carlos

The longshot Major Cabbie will be trainer Peter Miller’s lone starter in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita at a time when his stable has depth in the sprint division.

Major Cabbie has not started since a last-place finish in the Native Dancer Stakes at Laurel Park in December 2019, missing 2020 because of a splint bone injury, Miller said. Major Cabbie was in training briefly in early 2020 and resumed workouts in December.

Miller said Major Cabbie could go from the San Carlos Stakes to the $75,000 Santana Mile here on March 28.

Miller is leaving two notable sprint runners in the stable: C Z Rocket and Shashashakemeup. C Z Rocket was second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland in November, and Shashashakemeup was second in the Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 23.

Miller said those runners could start in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes at six furlongs at Oaklawn Park on March 13, although he expressed concern about the long-range forecast of rain at the Arkansas track.

C Z Rocket, who won the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar last August and the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in September, is “ready to go” for his 2020 debut.

“I’m trying to keep guys separated,” Miller said of his group of sprinters.

The list of expected starters in the San Carlos lacks a nationally prominent sprinter. Candidates include Brickyard Ride, Extra Hope, Loud Mouth, Manhattan Up, Storm the Court, and Tigre di Slugo.

Miller plans to start None Above the Law, the runner-up in the California Cup Derby for statebreds on Jan. 16, in what will be a very tough running of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday.

The $300,000 San Felipe is a leading prep for the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 3. The probable field for the San Felipe includes the undefeated Life Is Good, and Medina Spirt and Roman Centurian, the first two finishers of the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 30.