Hollywood Gold Cup Odds and Analysis
by Bodog Racebook | Jul 4 2011
Hollywood Park’s signature race for its spring-summer meet is the $500,000 Gr. 1 Hollywood Gold Cup, held this year on Saturday, July 9. Twirling Candy, Acclamation and First Dude are all expected for the 1 ¼ mile race for 3-year-olds and up.
Trained by John Sadler, Twirling Candy will be sent off as the favorite for the Hollywood Gold Cup. A 4-year-old son of Candy Ride, Twirling Candy has enjoyed a solid year so far, with two wins from three starts. He will face some of the rivals he defeated in his last outing, in the $150,000 Gr. 2 Californian Stakes on June 4, also at Hollywood Park, a race he won by 1 ¼ lengths. His previous race marks the only blemish on his 2011 record thus far, a fifth-place disappointment in the $750,000 Gr. 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5. Though his best races have been at 1 1/8 miles or less, Twirling Candy has been training well, registering a 7-furlong workout at Hollywood Park in 1:25.20 on July 2. Overall, Twirling Candy has a 7-0-0 record from nine starts and has earned $684,900.
A son of Unusual Heat, Acclamation has won his last four starts at Hollywood Park – but on the track’s grass oval. The Donald Warren trainee defended his titles in both the $150,000 Gr. 2 Jim Murray Handicap on May 14 and the $250,000 Gr. 1 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap on June 11. His most recent loss was on dirt, a disappointing 10th in the $1M Charles Town Classic Stakes at Charles Town on April 16. The 6-year-old posted a 7-furlong work at Hollywood Park on June 28 that was timed in 1:25.20. With a career record of 25-6-2-6 but a 4-2-0-0 record in 2011, Acclamation seems to be improving with age. He has earned $758,048 to date.
First Dude has had the best races of his career in 2011, including his first graded stakes victory (by a nose) in the $300,000 Gr. 3 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs May 6. That victory followed an allowance race win at Santa Anita Park on April 9. A son of Stephen Got Even, First Dude has limited experience on synthetic tracks but he has been training well on that surface: a 6-furlong work at Hollywood Park was timed in 1:12.60 on June 26, fourth best of 22 workouts at that distance. The 4-year-old, trained by Bob Baffert, has earned $1,142,140 from 16 career starts and is 3-5-4.
Others expected for the Hollywood Gold Cup are Soul Candy, Setsuko, Jeranimo, Game On Dude, Dark Cove and Aggie Engineer; 2010 winner Awesome Gem remains possible. Champion 3-year-old filly Blind Luck has also been nominated but is more likely for the $750,000 Delaware Handicap on July 16.
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