Cal-bred horses step into the spotlight at Santa Anita’s Cal Cup

Horse racing owners and trainers were offering dual expressions of hope and uncertainty on Saturday at Santa Anita, a day in which there was a celebration of the California breeding industry with four stakes races and nine races overall limited to Cal-breds.

The uncertainty is related to the disappearance of stallions that have been stalwarts for years in producing versatile, successful sons and daughters in California. Since 2013, top California stallions Unusual Heat, Tribal Rule, Bertrando, Benchmark, In Excess, Cee’s Tizzy and Lucky Pulpit all have left the breeding sheds.

“They all got old and passed away,” said Harris Auerbach, one of the managing partners for Unusual Heat.

“They were so good and it’s a big loss,” trainer Carla Gaines said.

The hope is with several new stallions who will begin breeding in California this year. Shaman Ghost, Danzing Candy and Stay Thirsty are sons of well-bred Kentucky-based stallions Ghostzapper, Twirling Candy and Bernardini. Four sons of Unusual Heat have 2-year-olds being unveiled. Unusual Heat’s last crop will be yearlings this year — there are 12 of them.

On Saturday, the Cal-bred horses got to be in the spotlight at Santa Anita, and a son of Unusual Heat might be a stallion to watch.

Acclamation, an Eclipse Award champion turf horse, is the sire of Heck Yeah, a Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old who won the $100,000 California Cup Turf Sprint by 2 1/2 lengths under jockey Drayden Van Dyke. He’s two for two sprinting, and the way Heck Yeah rallied indicated going two turns shouldn’t be a problem.

In the $150,000 California Cup Sprint, Edwards Going Left cruised to a six-length victory. Heavily favored Masochistic, the 8-year-old gelding making his first start for Baffert, faded to fifth in the six-horse field.

Edwards Going Left, ridden by Tyler Baze and trained by John Sadler, was claimed for $50,000 last year. The 4-year-old son of Midnight Lute has won six races since. Sadler is known for his excellent claims, none better than the multiple Grade I-winning filly Iotapa, who produced a $1.9 million War Front colt last year. Is Edwards Going Left his next great claim?

“He’s climbing fast,” Sadler said.

How About Zero, a 4-year-old filly by Square Eddie, won the $150,000 Filly and Mare Turf Sprint by 2 1/4 lengths over Barbara Beatrice for jockey Mario Gutierrez and trainer Doug O’Neill.

Rye won by a head the $200,000 Unusual Heat Classic under jockey Kent Desormeaux. Trained by Bill Morey, the 5-year-old son of English Channel is of course related to Unusual Heat. His mother is Phi Beta Heat, a daughter of Unusual Heat.

Helping the industry is a lucrative cash incentive program that rewards owners and breeders of Cal-bred horses. But make no mistake about it, Kentucky is still No. 1. Auerbach has 14 daughters of Unusual Heat based in Kentucky to take advantage of the more expensive stallions.

“Right now there’s a void and no one has really established themselves,” he said of California breeding.

Eclipse Award-winning apprentice Evin Roman rode four winners.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @latsondheimer