Forged Steel loves Santa Anita Park. After crushing the field in the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes in late May, the Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee returned to "The Great Race Place" and won once again, this time in the Grade 1 $300,000 Goodwood Stakes on Sept. 26.

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Ridden by Edwin Gonzalez, Forged Steel sat right off the early lead through fractions of :22.97 and :48.83 then took the lead approaching the far turn and opened up on the field. The 4-year-old maintained his advantage through the stretch to defeat Joseph's other entrant Caldera by 1 1/4 lengths. Last year's Goodwood winner Nevada Beach, the 6-5 favorite, finished third. The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.48. Forged Steel paid $27.60 for a $2 wager.

Forged Steel gave Gonzalez the first Grade 1 stakes victory of his career.

"When I passed the three-eighths, I passed the leader and was waiting for the horses to come from behind while giving him a little breather," Gonzalez said. "When I turned for home and when I asked, it was one ask and he kept going."

The Goodwood Stakes was a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series "Win and You're In" event, and Forged Steel earned himself a guaranteed fees-paid spot in the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

The winner came into the race off a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar but appears to prefer Santa Anita. His first visit to the track this May resulted in a 9 1/2-length win in the 1 1/4-mile Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes.

"I watched the race this horse ran in the Gold Cup and it was very impressive," said Michael Iavarone representing part-owner TCC Stables. "I thought, 'if we bring him back here and he could be forward, the cutback is going to be huge for him.' I feel like Edwin had the race in his back pocket pretty much at the half-mile pole."

Cabo Spirit Wires City of Hope to Earn BC Mile Berth

With three horses vying for favoritism in the five-horse, Grade 2 $200,0000 City of Hope Mile Stakes Sept. 26 at Santa Anita Park, Cabo Spirit eked out a slim victory over actual post-time favorite El Potente as the longest shot on the board at 7-1.

Cabo Spirit. (BENOIT photo)

Cabo Spirit set all of the fractions under jockey Mike Smith, posting :23.47 for the first quarter-mile and :46.91 for a half-mile. King of Gosford, who had won back-to-back stakes during the Del Mar meeting, took a run at Cabo Spirit around the second turn, but Cabo Spirit rebuffed him. El Potente saw a wide-open rail and looked like he might challenge Cabo Spirit, but Cabo Spirit held him off to score by a head over firm ground in 1:33.06. King of Gosford finished third.

"He is such a cool horse," Smith said. "He doesn't win all the time, but he always runs a winning race. I got away with a very easy first quarter for him. I thought I could get brave down the backside and let him run a little bit. I was able to give him a good breather around the turn. He deserves the win."

With the victory, Cabo Spirit earned a fees-paid Breeders' Cup Challenge Series "Win and You're In" berth into the $2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

"He's all heart, and that showed in how he won the race today," trainer George Papaprodromou said. -- Tracy Gantz and Byron King