ARCADIA, Calif. – New wrinkles Saturday at Santa Anita include noteworthy firsts in separate $175,000 stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds.
The California Chrome California Cup Derby, race 8, is the first derby of 2026 in California. The dirt route is the first two-turn race for sprint stakes winner Sammy Davis. It could produce the first win by stakes-placed maiden John Metcalfe. Stakes winner Smoovin Saturday is 2 for 2.
The Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks, race 7, is the first oaks of 2026 in California. The turf mile for fillies is the first start on turf by Grade 2-placed Cashed, and will perhaps be the first stakes win for Cee Drew. The likely pacesetter is first-time router Too Sassy, a sprint stakes winner.
The uncertainties add to the parimutuel appeal of the Derby and Oaks. Both races offer a chance to fade low-odds contenders. Oaks entrant Cashed will be well-bet on turf, based on dirt races. Derby contender Sammy Davis will be well-bet in the route, based on his sprint races.
Nonetheless, front-runner Sammy Davis is the most important starter in the Derby owing to his role as likely pacesetter. Can the Sir Prancealot gelding stay two turns?
“No problem,” trainer John Sadler said. “I think he’ll be fine at the distance, he just floats.”
Sammy Davis won his first two starts, including the Graduation Stakes in summer at Del Mar. He regressed in his third start of summer, then bounced back finishing second in a California-bred stakes in late October at Del Mar.
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Owned by the Legacy Ranch of Pete and Evelyn Parrella, Sammy Davis is a sibling to Sadler-trained Cali Cat, who won an allowance route last week rallying from third. Sadler would like a similar trip with Sammy Davis, but he looks like the controlling speed under Hector Berrios.
Smoovin Saturday, by I’ll Have Another, is 2 for 2 after winning the King Glorious on Dec. 14 at Los Alamitos. Both starts were routes. He never was a sprinter.
“Didn’t seem like a horse with a whole bunch of early pace,” trainer Michael McCarthy explained. “I thought against Cal-breds going two turns [in his debut], he would be fairly effective.”
Smoovin Saturday followed his debut at Del Mar by winning the King Glorious. Tiago Pereira rides Smoovin Saturday, who was bred and is owned by Reddam Racing.
The up-and-comer in the California Cup Derby is John Metcalfe, runner-up twice to Smoovin Saturday. Craig Lewis trains John Metcalfe, a five-start maiden front-runner by Clubhouse Ride who showed a new dimension in the King Glorious.
“In that race, we were able to get him to relax, I think he’s learned a lot,” Lewis said. “The farther he goes, the better he’s going to be. He’s developed, he’s on the improve.”
Juan Hernandez rides John Metcalfe, whose ability to ration his speed affords him a better chance to upset. Three of the last four California Cup Derby winners entered off losses in the King Glorious, same as John Metcalfe.
John Metcalfe is named for a boyhood friend of Craig and Larry Lewis, brothers and co-owners of John Metcalfe. What took so long to name a horse after a friend?
“Waited for the right horse,” Craig Lewis said. “That tells you how much I like this horse.”
The field includes My Boy Stan, Start the Ride, Almost There, Ocean Bear, Can’t Help Myself, Pavlovian, Fionello, and improving longshot Cruise Home.
In race 7, fillies race a mile on turf in the California Cup Oaks. The runner-up finish by Cashed in the slow-paced Grade 2 Starlet at Los Alamitos stamps the Doug O’Neill trainee as the class of the California Cup Oaks. The challenge is footing. Progeny of I’ll Have Another typically prefer dirt. Umberto Rispoli rides Cashed.
Cee Drew, a Cistron filly trained by Dan Blacker, is proven on turf. She scored a sharp debut win racing six furlongs on turf at Santa Anita, followed by a respectable eighth in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante at Del Mar. Cee Drew hit traffic into the lane, split rivals, and finished well. Her 24.01-second final quarter was fastest in the field; she missed by 4 1/4 lengths. The race has already produced two next-out winners.
Ricky Gonzalez rides Cee Drew for her owner-breeder My Way Racing.
Too Sassy is a stakes-winning sprinter with speed. The California Cup Oaks field also includes Crunchy, Tiger Lady, Eighties, Cecilia Street, and Final Table Lady.
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