Cabo Spirit hangs on in City of Hope Mile

Cabo Spirit earned a belated first win of the season Saturday in his conventional style – on the lead – in the $200,000 City of Hope Mile (G2) at Santa Anita.

Although the longest shot at 7-1 in the field of five, the veteran of 45 starts pulled out all the stops to deny El Potente by a head under the ageless Mike Smith.

Maintaining a steady lead of around a length through seven furlongs, Cabo Spirit saw that advantage diminish inside the final furlong as he began drifting out into the middle of the course, leaving a wide-open space for 2-1 favorite El Potente to rally up the rail. Although not exactly looking his rival in the eye, Cabo Spirit understood the task at hand and ultimately repelled his fellow seven-year-old.

Zipping a mile over the firm turf in 1:33.06, Cabo Spirit returned $16.40. He is owned by Kretz Racing and is trained by George Papaprodomou. El Potente finished 3 1/4 lengths ahead of King of Gosford, who edged Irish Aces for third by a head. Detain was the trailer.

The City of Hope Mile was the seventh career stakes win for Cabo Spirit, who has also finished second or third in 12 other stakes appearances.

“He is such a cool horse. He doesn’t win all the time, but he always runs a winning race,” Smith said. “It’s great to see him end up on this side of it because so many times he’s second or third.”

One thing Cabo Spirit has not yet done is to win a Grade 1. The City of Hope was a Breeders’ Cup Challenge prep for the Mile (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 31, though whether Cabo Spirit is up to the task is debatable. His lone prior try at the fixture resulted in a 12th-place finish out of 13 in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Santa Anita over 1 1/2 miles.

Later in the card, Sorrento Sky mowed down his rivals to land the $201,000 Eddie D. (G2) by one length as the 2-1 favorite.

Now 2-for-3 since being gelded in the spring, Sorrento Sky has evolved into the circuit’s leading turf sprinter. In his previous start, Sorrento Sky captured the Green Flash H. (G2) over five furlongs at Del Mar by one length as a 7-1 chance. 

Under Umberto Rispoli, Sorrento Sky finished about 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:12.30 and paid $6.20. Sumter finished second by a neck over the filly Amorita. Seven ran.

A five-year-old by Prince of Lir, Sorrento Sky races for a wide-ranging partnership that includes the Benowitz Family Trust. Phil D’Amato was the winning trainer.