A group of five California-breds trained by Steve Specht were on a van from Golden Gate Fields to Santa Anita on Wednesday morning when the trip came to a standstill on Interstate-5 because of a traffic accident that closed the freeway. “The horses are just standing there,” said Specht, who was driving in a different vehicle. “It’s cold. It’s 37 degrees.” Specht is hoping his quintet have better journeys when they start in stakes for statebreds on Saturday’s California Cup program at Santa Anita. The team, all owned and bred by Larry and Marianne Williams, includes Wild Jewels for the $200,000 California Cup Derby at 1 1/16 miles on dirt for 3-year-olds, Grand Slam Smile for the $200,000 California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies, Passarando and Royal ‘n Rando for the $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic for older horses at 1 1/8 miles on turf, and Tam’s Little Angel in the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint on the hillside turf course. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Specht and the Williamses do not have a runner for the $150,000 California Cup Sprint, a race expected to include The Chosen Vron, who won six of seven starts in 2023 and was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in November in his only loss. The 3-year-olds are Specht’s best chance for his fifth career stakes win at Santa Anita, and first at the Southern California track since Grand Slam Smile cruised to a win by 7 1/4 lengths in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies at seven furlongs for statebred 2-year-olds on the Breeders’ Cup undercard program on Nov. 3. Grand Slam Smile will race on turf for the first time in the Cal Cup Oaks. “If she takes to the turf, they won’t beat her,” he said. Passarando is expected to face Kings River Knight, who was fourth in the 2023 Unusual Heat Turf Classic and has since won four stakes for statebreds; and Aligato, who won the 2022 Unusual Heat Turf Classic and was second in the 2023 race. Aligato was winless in seven starts in 2023, finishing second or third in all of the races. Passarando finished fifth of six in an allowance race at a mile at Golden Gate Fields on Nov. 26 in his first start in six months. “He tailed off and I turned him out,” Specht said. “He came out of his last race well.” Specht, 74, had three runners for the Williamses in the 2023 California Cup races, including a third by Passarando in the Cal Cup Derby. He is starting a larger group this year out of necessity. The stakes program at Golden Gate Fields was slashed this winter for the track’s final meeting before it is permanently closed in June. The track ran 16 stakes at the 2022-2023 winter-spring meeting worth $1.425 million, but have only two scheduled for the current meeting, and none restricted to statebreds. The two stakes this year are worth a combined $275,000. “That’s why I coming down here,” Specht said. “A couple I might not have brought if there were races up there. They’ve cut the races badly.” Overnight purses were cut by 25 percent for the current season, which has led some stables to send horses to other states. Specht said he has an uncertain future after June, hinting that he could retire. The Northern California racing circuit without a majority of dates at Golden Gate Fields has not been set.  After the track’s closure in June, the circuit shifts to fair meetings at Pleasanton, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Ferndale, and Fresno beginning in mid-June. Fair venues such as Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and Pleasanton may have additional racing dates following Golden Gate’s closure and after the conclusion of the fair season in Fresno in October. The issue is scheduled to be discussed at the California Horse Racing Board’s monthly meeting on Jan. 18. Maldonado to see doctor soon Jockey Edwin Maldonado sustained a shoulder injury when he was unseated during morning workouts at Santa Anita last Saturday, and is scheduled to see a doctor for evaluation on the week of Jan. 22, according to his agent, Tony Matos. Matos said earlier this week that Maldonado was diagnosed with a separated collarbone, and that the injury will not require surgery. The doctor’s visit will determine whether Maldonado will need additional time to recuperate or whether he can resume riding in the near future. Through Sunday, Maldonado, 31, was tied for fifth in the jockey standings with six wins from just 15 mounts at the current winter-spring meeting at Santa Anita.   :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.