by JAY PRIVMAN of DRF.com

Six gain entry to Hall of Fame
Jockey Edgar Prado and trainer Carl Nafzger, who had career highlights in recent years by capturing the Kentucky Derby, parlayed that success along with a glorious body of work in previous years to be elected into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame announced on Monday.

Prado and Nafzger were among three people and three horses who will make up the induction class of 2008. They will be joined by jockey Milo Valenzuela, and the horses Ancient Title, Inside Information, and Manila, All six will be inducted at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Aug. 4, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion, only a few furlongs from Saratoga Race Course. Nafzger, Prado, Inside Information, and Manila were elected in their respective contemporary categories by a majority of the Hall of Fame's 184 voters.

Ancient Title and Valenzuela were selected by the Hall's 12-member historic review committee, which considers jockeys, trainers, and horses who have been inactive for at least 25 years.

Nafzger and Prado appeared on the ballot for the first time. Nafzger was in a two-person race for trainer against Bob Wheeler, a legend in California. Prado outpolled both Alex Solis and Randy Romero. Manila, acknowledged as one of the great turf horses of the last half-century, finally got into the Hall in his 11th appearance on the final ballot.

He beat out fellow male contemporary horses Best Pal and Tiznow. Inside Information was on the ballot for the fourth time. She prevailed against an outstanding field of contemporary female horses, including Open Mind, Silverbulletday, and Sky Beauty. Nafzger, 66, won his second Kentucky Derby last year with Street Sense, who is the lone horse to win the Derby and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Nafzger also won the Derby in 1990 with Unbridled, who won that year's BC Classic, too.

Before turning to training, Nafzger was an accomplished rodeo rider, and did so well in that field that, last year, he was inducted into the Professional Bull Riders Hall of Fame. Nafzger said he "can't even visualize" being in the Hall of Fame with his mentor, the great trainer John Nerud, who gave Nafzger's career a big push by sending him horses in 1978. Prado, 40, won the Kentucky Derby in 2006 with Barbaro, and Prado acknowledged during a conference call on Monday that Barbaro "had a lot to do" with his getting into the Hall of Fame. "He got me my first title as champion jockey," Prado said, referring to his 2006 Eclipse Award, "and a lot of people fell in love with the horse."

Prado is a native of Peru. After arriving in the United States in 1986, he first rode in Florida and New England, then led the nation in victories three straight years, 1997-99, while riding in Maryland. But his career reached another level when he subsequently relocated to New York. Prado has won the Belmont Stakes twice.

He has won 6,040 races in North America, 15th all-time. "I'm speechless," Prado said. "This is a dream come true." Valenzuela, 73, retired in 1980 after a career in which he won the Kentucky Derby twice, on Tim Tam in 1958 and Forward Pass in 1968. But he is best known as the regular rider of the great Kelso, on whom Valenzuela won 22 stakes races in the early 1960s.

"I am the happiest man today knowing that I have been recognized and accepted to the Hall of Fame," Valenzuela said. "This was my last chapter in my racing career that I wanted to complete. My last ride across the finish line, at 73 being inducted into the Hall of Fame." Ancient Title, who joined Valenzuela as an inductee from the historic review committee, won 24 of 57 starts while racing from ages 2 through 8, primarily in California, in a career that ended in 1978.

Ancient Title, a gelding, won such major races as the Californian and Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park with a wicked combination of speed and staying power. On a foray to the East Coast in 1975, he won the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga. Ancient Title was trained by Keith Stucki, 88, who is retired but lives not far from Santa Anita in Bradbury, Calif. Inside Information became the third Hall of Fame horse trained by Shug McGaughey, who also trained Easy Goer and Personal Ensign.

Inside Information won 14 of 17 starts, and completed her career with a runaway victory in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Distaff. "I'm flattered that she was elected over fillies like Silverbulletday, Sky Beauty, and Open Mind," McGaughey said.

"All three of them deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, too." Inside Information is a broodmare at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky. Manila won 12 of 18 starts, including nine straight from June 1986 to July 1987, most notably the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting, in which he prevailed after having to alter course in traffic a furlong from the wire. Manila also won the 1987 Arlington Million. Manila, who was trained by Leroy Jolley, is currently at stud in Turkey.



by BRAD FREE of DRF.com

Brother Derek doing A-OK after comebacker
A slow start and a wide trip contributed to the runner-up comeback by odds-on Brother Derek on Sunday at Santa Anita. He finished second in an allowance race that was his first start in more than 14 months.

Still, trainer Dan Hendricks considers it a mission accomplished. "We're back racing, and that's what he wanted to do," Hendricks said, relieved that the 5-year-old finally is back in action. Winner of the Santa Anita Derby in 2006, Brother Derek would be racing again at Hollywood Park this weekend in the Grade 2 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap on Saturday or the $150,000 Tiznow for Cal-breds on Sunday, but he was scratched from his comeback three weeks ago because of a quarter crack.

Now, the next start for Brother Derek might be the Grade 2 Californian on May 31. "That's something to think about with his speed," Hendricks said. "Hollywood Park plays a little better to his style." Brother Derek has won six races and more than $1.6 million for owner Cecil Peacock.

His last win was 10 starts back in the Santa Anita Derby. Surf Cat highweight in Mervyn LeRoy The absence of Brother Derek and Heatseeker means that Surf Cat will start as the 120-pound highweight Saturday in the Grade 2 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Runner-up to Greg's Gold three weeks ago in the Grade 2 Potrero Grande at 6 1/2 furlongs, Surf Cat will be racing two turns on the main track for the first time since winning the Mervyn LeRoy in 2006.

His rivals are expected to include Fly Dorcego (115), Monzante (115), Mr Napper Tandy (113), and Neko Bay (113). Surf Cat worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Tuesday at Santa Anita, and is expected to be ridden Saturday by Alex Solis.



by MARY RAMPELLINI of DRF.com

The future is now for Monterey Jazz
The direction of Monterey Jazz's campaign this year will be determined by his performance Saturday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park. The race will be a rare start on dirt for him, and his first outside of California.

"This will kind of tell us which way to go," said Craig Dollase, who trains Monterey Jazz for A and R Stables and Class Racing. "The timing's right, and if he runs real well on this dirt track, which we hope he does, we'll come back and run him probably in the Met Mile." The Texas Mile is the richest of four stakes worth a cumulative $450,000 at Lone Star on Saturday.

The races are preps for the Lone Star Million Day program of stakes here May 26. Monterey Jazz figures to go favored in the Texas Mile. He looks like the controlling speed in a race that is also expected to draw closers Zanjero and Going Ballistic, as well as stalker Beta Capo.

David Flores has the mount on Monterey Jazz, who opened 2008 with a 4 1/2-length win over Tiago in the Grade 2 Strub at Santa Anita on Feb. 2. Monterey Jazz covered the 1 1/8 miles on a synthetic surface in 1:45.60, and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 108. Before that race, the horse won the Grade 3 Sir Beaufort at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

Monterey Jazz will move to dirt Saturday after setting the pace and finishing 12th in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1. The last time he ran on dirt he won a 6 1/2-furlong allowance at Fairplex in September 2007.

He will be looking to be the latest Southern California-based horse to make a successful synthetic to dirt move, behind recent Oaklawn graded stakes winners Gayego, Zenyatta, and Tiago. "We're hoping he's going to handle it just fine," said Dollase. "But I guess you never really know until you actually try.

But as far as how these horses, even the 3-year-olds, have been running on synthetic to dirt, it's been a positive move. Hopefully, that will be the case with our guy. "We're going to see if he can overcome a couple of these obstacles we'll throw at him.

It's early enough in the year that we can do that." Monterey Jazz worked a half-mile in 47.20 seconds Tuesday at Hollywood Park and is scheduled to fly to Lone Star on Thursday.



by MATT HEGARTY of DRF.com

Biancone faces new probe
The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority is conducting an investigation into whether trainer Patrick Biancone has violated the terms of the one-year suspension he received late last year for the possession of the neurotoxin cobra venom, according to an authority official and Biancone's attorney.

Lisa Underwood, the authority's executive director, said Tuesday that the investigation centers on a provision of the suspension that prohibits Biancone from "training" any horses during the first six months of the penalty. Underwood declined to provide any other specifics about the investigation.

Frank Becker, a Lexington attorney who represents Biancone, declined to provide any details about the investigation, but said Biancone had complied with all the terms of his suspension. When asked if Biancone would fight any effort by the authority to issue additional penalties, Becker said that he would.

"He has not violated any terms of his suspension," Becker said. Under an agreement that Biancone accepted with the authority in October, he was prohibited from training horses or setting foot on any racetrack grounds for a six-month period, from Nov. 1 to May 1, with the exception of the Keeneland January sale.

He also was prohibited from seeking a trainer's license from any racing jurisdiction for another six months, and during the one-year term of the agreement, he was required to transfer all of the horses under his care to a trainer who did not have any financial arrangement with him. The agreement stemmed from the discovery of three vials of cobra venom in his barn at Keeneland during a search by authority investigators on June 22.

The vials were found in a bag in a refrigerator that was labeled with the name and phone number of one of Biancone's stable veterinarians, Dr. Rodney Stewart. Biancone's attorneys insisted that Stewart placed the bags in Biancone's refrigerator without informing the trainer.

Stewart was banned by the authority for five years. Cobra venom is a powerful neurotoxin that can deaden pain. Its use is unregulated, and it cannot be detected in post-race urine or blood tests. In January, Biancone and a partner, Fabien Ouaki, reached an agreement to purchase a 120-acre property that includes a one-mile training track with an artificial surface near Lexington.

The property was previously owned by Hurricane Hall, a stallion farm, and the sale was expected to close in June. Underwood said that any results of the investigation would be presented to the full authority during a public hearing, if necessary. A hearing into the matter has not yet been scheduled, Underwood said.

by BRAD FREE of DRF.com

Broad Try primed for the upset
The longshot filly Broad Try cannot win the sixth race Thursday at Hollywood Park unless she improves significantly off her comeback. Count on it.

Seven fillies and mares entered the first-level main-track optional claiming race at 1 1/16 miles, and Broad Try is spotted for an upset under jockey Richard Migliore. "She won on grass, but she works so well on" the main track, Migliore said, adding "she gets over it real well."

Broad Try is trained by Richard Matlow, whose Hollywood Park base of operations is where Broad Try has posted all her workouts since she re-entered training this winter. A 4-year-old, Broad Try needed six starts before winning a maiden race in winter 2007; two starts later she defeated starter-allowance foes on grass and then was sidelined nearly a year.

She returned March 16 at Santa Anita in one of the toughest first-level turf allowances of the winter. At odds of 18-1, Broad Try ran surprisingly well. Parked wide from post 9, she made a looping move into the stretch, rallied to within five lengths of the lead at the eighth pole, and then lost her punch, finishing 10th. While the 1-2-3 finishers from that race returned to win, Broad Try returned to Hollywood to gear up for her second start back.

Migliore worked Broad Try a sharp five furlongs April 5; she came back April 12 with a sharp six-furlong move in 1:11.80. George Todaro owns Broad Try, whose late-maturing pedigree (by Include, out of a Skip Trial mare) suggests the best is yet to come. Win or lose, Broad Try is sure to improve Thursday, and she will need to in order to win.

That is because likely favorite G.I. Betty has higher speed figures, established form at the class level, and she benefits from a solid runner-up comeback. G.I. Betty, owned and trained by Bruce Headley, missed by three-quarters behind a loose-on-the-lead front-runner March 9. It was her first start in four months.

G.I. Betty has won 2 of 10 and has a new rider Thursday in David Flores. Other leading contenders Thursday include Forest Miss, a 3-for-15 filly entered for the $40,000 claiming price; and Chelcee's Hope, first off the claim by Santa Anita leading trainer Mike Mitchell.

The others are Cajun Monarch, up in class from a $20,000 claiming-race win; Karlee's Kitten, a 5-for-21 mare who ran the best race of her career last summer on the Hollywood Cushion Track; and Marvelous Marcia.

by STEVE ANDERSEN of DRF.com

$176,150 Santa Anita carryover Monday
A series of longshots winners on Sunday produced a pick six carryover of $176,150 at Santa Anita on Monday. Monday's pick six covers the third through eighth races on a program that begins at 1 p.m.

The pick six races start with a starter allowance on the hillside turf course that has 11 starters, the second largest field in the pick six sequence. The next four races, the fourth through seventh, are allowance races or optional claiming races. The fourth race, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, is led by Crown of Diamonds. Exhale, a Triple Crown hopeful in 2007, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the fifth race, an optional claimer over 6 1-2 furlongs.

Exhale is returning after a 15-month layoff. The sixth race, an optional claimer over 1 1/8 miles on turf, features Great Siege, a sharp maiden race winner who is making his first start against winners.

Street Boss, the winner of two of his last three starts for trainer Bruce Headley, will be favored in the seventh race, an optional claimer over 6 1/2 furlongs, the seventh race. The final race is a maiden claimer over seven furlongs for 3-year-olds. The race has drawn a field of 14, with Rail Dancer expected to be a short-priced favorite.

by JAY PRIVMAN of DRF.com

Rivals rematched in Santa Anita Derby
It might not yet rise to the level of Affirmed and Alydar, or even the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, but the budding rivalry between Colonel John and El Gato Malo, who have emerged as West's best 3-year-olds, offers a compelling match in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday. Colonel John beat El Gato Malo by a half-length in last month's Sham Stakes, though the trainers of both horses - even the victorious Eoin Harty - acknowledge posts and trips were paramount.

On ability, they are separated by no more than the period at the end of this sentence. Round 2 is Saturday, and encouraging performances by both will send them to the Kentucky Derby, four weeks hence at Churchill Downs. Nine others, however, hope to play villains in this story, most notably Yankee Bravo, who comes off a deceptively good third-place finish in last month's Louisiana Derby, and the speedy Bob Black Jack, who was a last-minute entrant when it looked like he would be excluded from next week's Arkansas Derby.

Although the outcome may be the same, the Santa Anita Derby should otherwise bear no resemblance to the Sham. Though both are 1 1/8-mile races, there were only five horses in the Sham and the pace was pedestrian, with the first six furlongs in 1:14.35. With a field of 11, and legitimate speed horses such as Bob Black Jack and Polonius, the Santa Anita Derby figures be a more truly run race.

"There should be a more legitimate pace," Harty said Thursday morning at Santa Anita as he watched Colonel John school at the gate and then gallop. "I would expect to be farther off the pace, hopefully in the clear, and hopefully without being given too much to do." El Gato Malo was caught behind that slow pace in the Sham and could not catch Colonel John, who had the advantage of stalking from the outside. That was El Gato Malo's first loss after three wins. "We just need the trip," said Craig Dollase, who trains El Gato Malo. "He didn't get the right trip last time, but he almost overcame it. It was a very good learning experience.

There's going to be 20 horses in the [Kentucky] Derby, so he's going to have to overcome a little adversity. "He's really come into his own of late. It doesn't have to be his best race. Hopefully, that'll be the first Saturday in May."

Like El Gato Malo, Yankee Bravo won his first three starts before a loss last time. And like El Gato Malo, Yankee Bravo ran well in defeat, finishing third behind Pyro in the Louisiana Derby. He drew the rail Saturday. "He's only had four races," said Paddy Gallagher, who trains Yankee Bravo. "He's still young and learning."

Bob Black Jack was third in the San Felipe three weeks ago over a track that was not favoring his front-running style. Nine furlongs might be stretching his range, but he has earned a shot in this race. David Flores, his regular rider, is on El Gato Malo, so Richard Migliore has picked up the mount.

"They'll most likely have to run where we've already been," Migliore said. Signature Move was a promising prospect earlier this meet, when he beat allowance horses, but he has not raced since the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 9. "He had a horrible lung infection and he bled in the Risen Star," trainer Eric Guillot said.

Signature Move's last two works both were the best of the morning. On the Virg has won two straight around two turns here after losing a sprint debut. He also has trained sharply coming into this race, according to Michael McCarthy, who oversees trainer Todd Pletcher's West Coast string. "Outside of Colonel John, El Gato Malo, and Bob Black Jack, the rest of us are in the same boat," McCarthy said. "I don't know if it will happen on Saturday, but that horse will win a big race. He had a good work with Circular Quay the other day."

Coast Guard returns to a synthetic surface after a dreadful try on dirt in the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows. Shore Do makes his first start for trainer Brian Koriner, and as a gelding. He was soundly beaten in his last two starts against horses of this caliber.

The Santa Anita Derby is the sixth race on an 11-race card that begins at noon Pacific time. It will be televised live by NBC in a one-hour telecast that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific and also includes the Wood Memorial from Aqueduct and the Illinois Derby from Hawthorne.

The Santa Anita Derby is the first leg of a pick six that has a $1 million guarantee. On-track fans will get a free T-shirt. Although it rained Wednesday night and Thursday morning, skies are supposed to be party cloudy, with temperatures in the low 70s on Saturday. The main track has had no drainage problems since being reformulated two months ago.

There are three other graded stakes here Saturday. Accomplished sprinters Surf Cat, Greg's Gold, and Johnny Eves are in the Grade 2, $200,000 Potrero Grande Handicap, the fourth race. Daytona is the one to catch in the Grade 2, $150,000 Arcadia Handicap for turf milers, the day's seventh race.

And in the ninth race, Sweeter Still, Carnival Queen, and Gorgeous Goose head a deeply competitive field in the Grade 2, $150,000 Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old turf fillies.




by MIKE WELSCH of DRF.com

Rags to Riches begins with easy breeze
Rags to Riches, the Belmont Stakes winner and 3-year-old filly champion in 2007, had her first recorded workout since returning to trainer Todd Pletcher's barn at Palm Beach Downs earlier this winter when she breezed three furlongs in 38.40 seconds at the training center on Tuesday.

Rags to Riches had been sidelined with a hairline fracture of her right front pastern sustained during her second-place finish to Lear's Princess in the Gazelle Stakes in her last start as a 3-year-old.

"She went nice and easy and did it well," said Pletcher. "Right now we have no specific plans for her at this time. We'll let her get into a routine first." Pletcher said Rags to Riches would remain at Palm Beach Downs until April 1, when she will ship to Keeneland to continue training. "She trained and prepared for the Kentucky Oaks at Keeneland last year and seemed to do well there," Pletcher said.

Pletcher also decided to call an audible with his recently acquired 3-year-old Face the Cat, who was purchased privately by owner Satish Satan after opening his campaign with a pair of victories at Gulfstream Park.

Pletcher had originally intended to send Face the Cat to Oaklawn for Saturday's Rebel Stakes but is now planning on running him in the $1omillion Florida Derby on March 29.

"He missed one breeze due to a sore gluteal muscle, and although he worked well last weekend I just felt it made more sense to wait and run him in the Florida Derby, since he's already 2 for 2 over this track," Pletcher explained.

Pletcher said he's also considering the Florida Derby as a possible option for Why Tonto, who upset stablemate Cowboy Cal in the Feb. 16 Hallandale Beach Stakes on the turf.



by MIKE WELSCH of DRF.com

War Pass plan moves forward
Trainer Nick Zito laid out a three-step plan earlier this winter that would have juvenile champion War Pass at his peak for the Kentucky Derby. And except for a slight hiccup that set him back a week in late January, at this point War Pass remains right on the boss's schedule.

Step one of Zito's plan, a one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park in February, resulted in an easy victory. Step two comes Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs when War Pass stretches out a little farther and faces a little stiffer competition in the Grade 3, $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby. War Pass isn't the only Eclipse Award winner on Saturday's program.

Dreaming of Anna, the 2006 Juvenile Filly champ, will again take on Grade 1 winner Lear's Princess in the Grade 3 Hillsborough Stakes, which shares top billing on the undercard along with the Grade 3 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Zito is hoping War Pass will follow in the footsteps of last year's reigning juvenile champion, Street Sense, who used a game victory over Any Given Saturday in the 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby as a stepping-stone to his eventual triumph in the Kentucky Derby.

"My main focus with him leading up to the Derby is to try to get his fitness level where we need it on the big day," Zito said. "Some might feel these first two races were unconventional prepwise, but we already know what he is. He doesn't have to show he belongs. He's already the champion."

Zito said that War Pass, who has led throughout to win each of his five career starts, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, came out of his 3-year-old debut in good order. "Obviously, there will be questions asked as we move along," Zito said. "This race will be tougher than the last, although I wouldn't want too hard a race in Tampa. When we go to the Wood, it will be a different story, although right now I'm not looking past Saturday since I've learned in this business you never know what can happen from day to day."

Zito's confidence in War Pass, a son of Cherokee Run owned by Robert LaPenta, has grown with each successive victory. "You know me, I'm always optimistic, although this game will humble kings," Zito said. "But how can I not be confident in a horse like this? He's just an athlete. There isn't an ounce of fat on him and hasn't been since the first day I got him as a 2-year-old.

He's the kind of horse who is laid-back most of the time, but as soon as he knows something's going on, he gets geared up." War Pass figures to be geared up when he steps into the starting gate against six rivals in the Tampa Bay Derby.

The field includes Atoned, second in the Grade 2 Remsen in his 2-year-old finale; Big Truck, runner-up in Tampa's Sam F. Davis Stakes; and Make Me Zach, a surprisingly impressive allowance winner last month at Gulfstream Park.

A locally based trio of longshots - Cigar Man, Gentleman James, and Dynamic Wayne - completes the lineup. Atoned has not started since finishing an unlucky second behind the highly regarded Court Vision in the Remsen on Nov. 24. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Atoned has been working steadily for his return at Palm Beach Downs. "I wanted to give him a break after the Remsen, so he went to the farm in Aiken after that race," said Pletcher, who nearly upset Street Sense with Any Given Saturday in the 2007 Tampa Derby.

"He wasn't quite ready to come back in the Sam Davis, so this has been our target all along. Obviously, you don't necessarily search out the 2-year-old champ for your comeback, but I can't worry about who is in the field. At this point, you have to just train your own horse."

Pletcher acknowledged Atoned probably could have won the Remsen with a luckier trip. "He had bad luck on the first turn, and surprisingly he was able to recover and perform as well as he did that day, although Court Vision had trouble as well in the race, so it's hard to say who was best," Pletcher said. "Right now, this race is our only objective. I haven't picked out another spot beyond this. At the moment, everything is a possibility."

Big Truck was beaten just a half-length by the Zito-trained Fierce Wind in the Sam Davis. "He ran well over the track, and I just hope he moves forward," said Big Truck's trainer, Barclay Tagg. "Obviously, you hate to have to face a horse like War Pass, but if you think you only have one horse to beat, you take the chance. If you feel like there's three or four to beat, then you should look for an easier spot."



by JAY PRIVMAN of DRF.com

Lava Man, with his favorite groom, gears up
There was a familiar rhythm to life at trainer Doug O'Neill's barn on Wednesday morning here at Hollywood Park. Lava Man went out late with exercise rider Tony Romero for a workout, and when Lava Man came back to the barn, he was greeted by his longtime groom, Noe Garcia.

But things are quite different for all now than one year ago. Last summer, Garcia lost his left arm in a horrible auto accident. Perhaps it was coincidental, but while Garcia was away recuperating, Lava Man's form went south. After losing three straight races, including one against California-breds in the California Cup Classic, Lava Man was given a lengthy vacation at the NexStar Ranch of Dave and Sommer Showalter in Temecula, Calif.

On Wednesday, Lava Man had his first official work since returning to O'Neill's stable. With Romero up, he was timed for three furlongs in 36.20 seconds, and went so easily that clockers at Hollywood Park termed the work "breezing," the only drill of 13 at the distance to be so recognized. "I wanted him to go in about 37," O'Neill said as Lava Man galloped past O'Neill's backstretch perch following the drill.

"Tony's a great rider, so that tells you Lava Man was full of energy." O'Neill timed Lava Man galloping out a half-mile in 48.80 seconds. Lava Man, 7, is not expected to race until Hollywood Park begins its season next month.

It will be a familiar spot for Lava Man. He has won the track's signature race, the Grade 1, $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, the past three years, equaling the feat of Native Diver in the 1960s. This year's Gold Cup is scheduled for June 28. That's a long ways off, literally and figuratively.

First, Lava Man must return to his best form. His feet still need to be treated with caution. He is wearing bar shoes on both front feet. "When he went to the farm, the main focus was hoof growth and trying to pile some weight on him," O'Neill said. "The Showalters did a great job with him. His feet look great, and the added pounds will come off as he gets fit."

It would be trite to compare Lava Man's return to that of Garcia, but O'Neill said there is an unmistakable bond between the two. "Noe's back rubbing on him and you can just tell, this is what he was meant to do," O'Neill said. "It has to be a horrible psychological thing to lose a limb. But now he's back with the horses, and with his buddies at the barn."

by BRAD FREE of DRF.com

Bejarano taken to hospital after spill
Rafael Bejarano, the leading rider at Santa Anita, was taken by ambulance to Arcadia Methodist Hospital on Thursday after he was injured in a one-horse spill in the eighth and final race.

Bejarano was thrown hard to the ground when his mount Parisian Art collapsed at the eighth pole and died of an apparent heart attack. Parisian Art was trailing the field and being eased when he went down; Bejarano landed head first.

According to Santa Anita president Ron Charles, who was on the track soon after the accident, Bejarano was talking and moving his arms and legs. Charles told the Santa Anita publicity department that Bejarano had pain in his neck and shoulders.

He did not stand or sit up, and was removed from the track by stretcher. Bejarano has won 60 races during the winter meet, and is scheduled to ride Georgie Boy on Saturday in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes.

by JAY PRIVMAN of DRF.com

Entries taken for Friday as project rolls on
Santa Anita officials took entries on Tuesday for a hoped-for return to racing on Friday, but Ron Charles, Santa Anita's president, cautioned that while he hoped renovation of the beleaguered main track would be completed by Friday, he was willing to wait an extra day if necessary.

"We're certainly going to try to race on Friday," Charles said Tuesday afternoon, "but everyone agrees that the most important thing is to get it right. It's critical to take the time to have the surface consistent all the way around with the polymer and the fiber."

Polymer and fiber are being installed this week by the synthetic surface company Pro-Ride, whose founder, Ian Pearse, was brought in to try and solve the riddle of why the Cushion Track at Santa Anita was not draining properly.

Santa Anita is usually dark on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the track canceled racing on Monday and Thursday this week to do the work. Charles said that Pearse and Santa Anita's track maintenance crew, headed by superintendent Richard Tedesco, worked on the surface until 1 a.m. on Tuesday, then resumed again shortly after 7 a.m. on Tuesday to take advantage of a warming sun.

On Monday afternoon, according to Charles, the distribution of the polymer over the surface took longer than expected, owing to inconsistency in the material of the original Cushion Track surface.

As a result, in order to be certain the polymer was distributed evenly, tanker trucks had to make additional passes over the surface, which put the project a bit behind schedule, Charles said. "But things have picked up today," Charles said Tuesday.

"We're working just about around the clock. But we're not going to rush to get back to racing by a certain date. We want the surface to be consistent." Including the cancellation of Thursday's card, Santa Anita has lost 10 of its first 32 scheduled days of racing this meet.

Charles said he is willing to sacrifice one more day, Friday, if that means getting it right and not having to cancel again through the end of the meet, on April 20. Charles gave the racing office the okay on Tuesday morning to take entries for Friday.

Entries for Friday were scheduled to be taken on Monday, but were postponed so that track management would have a better line on the progress being made on the main track's renovation and whether racing Friday would be feasible.

Regardless of when racing resumes, there will be a pick-six carryover of $181,514 awaiting. No one hit the pick six on Saturday, the last day Santa Anita was able to race.




by JAY PRIVMAN of DRF.com

Santa Anita revises repair schedule
The work that will be needed to repair Santa Anita's soggy main track will now have to be done in two steps because of recent wet weather, and will not be completed until the end of next week, according to both Ron Charles, the president and chief executive officer of Santa Anita, and Ian Pearse, the founder of the synthetic surface Pro-Ride.

Pearse said he would need two days this week to make the track level again before adding his polymers and fibers next week. Pearse has been brought in by Charles to help reconstitute the current main track, which was installed last summer at a cost of more than $10 million by another synthetic surface company, Cushion Track.

The track has not drained properly, which has resulted in seven canceled race cards, including Sunday and Monday, through the first 26 scheduled days of a meet that began Dec. 26.

Under a revised schedule, Santa Anita intends to race this week from Thursday through Sunday, then take four days next week for the final work to be done by Pearse. If that schedule holds, Santa Anita would lose two more previously scheduled racing days, Feb. 4 and 7. The first day of racing on the revised surface would be Feb. 8.

The meet is scheduled to end April 20. "We can't do it half-assed, with everything at stake," Charles said this past weekend. "It's important to get this surface down right, get us through the meet, and have something hopefully the whole industry will embrace. What we've got now is chaos.

This is the only chance we have, plus it's a long-term solution." The track was installed level from the inside rail to the outside rail by Cushion Track because the surface was supposed to drain vertically. But because it did not, Santa Anita in recent weeks has created a gradual incline, as with a traditional dirt track, to try and get the water to run off to the sides.

"We have to regulate the track, make sure the depth is consistent," said Pearse, a native of Australia. "Then we can add the polymetric binder. The plan is to regulate the track Tuesday and Wednesday, race Thursday through Sunday, then apply the binders and the fibers next week."

The binders, or polymers, were developed by Pro-Ride. In lab experiments earlier this month with the University of Southern California's school of civil engineering, the polymers allowed the track to drain vertically. Pearse said the polymers and fibers would be mixed into what's left of the current Cushion Track surface, which is a mixture of sand, rubber, and fibers, all coated in wax.

Pearse said spray trucks would be filled with the binder, then would circle the surface. The application of the binder over the surface would be evenly distributed through computer calculations, Pearse said. "The trucks will be followed by power harrows to mix in the binder," Pearse said. "We will do three applications. It will take two days to put down the binder, then two days to put down the fiber. It's a lot of equipment, and we're on a tight schedule."

Pearse said 125,000 gallons of binder would be needed, and at least 480 tons of fiber. "Ian is taking a failed product and is fixing it," said Charles, who said he has not had any recent contact with any representatives of Cushion Track.

The schedule outlined by Pearse presupposes cooperation from the weather. The long-range forecast for this week from Weather.com calls for dry conditions until at least Sunday following a storm that was expected to clear out here Monday afternoon.

If heavy rain returns this weekend, that would jeopardize the intended timetable. "Once we get it in, everyone is very confident that we won't miss any more days for the rest of the meeting," Charles said of the maintenance project. "Hopefully, it will be in on Friday the eighth."

This past week, Santa Anita was able to conduct only one of its scheduled five race cards, the Saturday program that included the Sunshine Millions. The track played extraordinarily fast on Saturday, with Bob Black Jack setting a world record of 1:06.53 for six furlongs in the Sunshine Millions Dash and Go Between setting a track record of 1:45.64 for 1 1/8 miles in the Classic. Racing was canceled Thursday and Friday, and then again Sunday and Monday after a severe storm hit Saturday night and Sunday morning.

For the past week, training at Santa Anita has been confined to the infield training track, with the exception of a brief window on Saturday morning. Only eight horses worked on the sloppy training track on Sunday, and eight more on Monday. At Hollywood Park, no horses worked on its Cushion Track surface on Friday or Sunday, and just one horse worked on Monday.

Entries for Thursday and Friday of this week were taken Monday. This Saturday's card, which already included the Grade 2, $300,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds and the Grade 2, $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds, will also now include the Grade 1, $250,000 Santa Monica Handicap for female sprinters, which was postponed when Sunday's card was canceled.

Charles said Santa Anita will petition the California Horse Racing Board to add make-up dates on previously scheduled dark days in coming weeks. This season, Santa Anita is scheduled to be dark on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Charles said he also has spoken to the racing board about moving some dates to Hollywood Park. "We continue to talk to the CHRB about Hollywood Park," Charles said. "We're hopeful we won't have to go. We have to have that contingency plan in place."



by STEVE ANDERSEN of DRF.com

Santa Anita cancels Sunday card
Santa Anita officials canceled Sunday’s nine-race program Sunday morning after overnight rains left standing water on the synthetic main track. Through Sunday, Santa Anita has lost seven days of racing at the winter-spring meeting that began Dec. 26 because of drainage problems in its Cushion Track surface.

Two more racing programs had been canceled -- Tuesday and Thursday -- in the hope of commencing a maintenance project that track officials believe will solve the drainage problem.

But the project, which is expected to take four days to complete, cannot begin until the track is relatively dry, according to track president Ron Charles, who said it was too wet to start the project on Sunday. The start of the project has now been postponed until the evening of Feb. 3. Charles said that Santa Anita has amended its racing schedule over the next 10 days to accommodate the new timing for the project.

Racing remains canceled for Monday but is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday this week, after which the maintenance will begin. There will be no racing Monday, Feb. 4 until the project is finished, which Charles said should be in time for racing to resume on Friday, Feb. 8.

Charles said there was a slight possibility that racing could begin on Thursday, Feb. 7. The project will add polymer and fibers made by the Pro-Ride Racing company to the Cushion Track surface, which consists of a mixture of sand, rubber, and natural and synthetic fibers.

The Cushion Track mixture uses wax, instead of polymer, as a binding agent and has failed to drain properly when exposed to substantial rainfall. Sunday’s program was cancelled at 7:30 am. Pacific time. “There’s too much standing water,” Charles said shortly after the decision was made. “We couldn’t get the track in safe condition.” Saturday’s Sunshine Millions program was the only day of racing conducted at Santa Anita over the weekend.

Racing was canceled on Thursday and Friday after significant rain on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Maintenance crews worked overnight Friday to prepare the track for Saturday’s program, removing two inches of wet material from the surface and adding an inch of dry material that had been stored in a parking lot adjacent to the backstretch.

The track was described by jockeys as “hard” on Saturday and produced fast times throughout the day, including a six-furlong world record of 1:06.53 set by Bob Black Jack in the Sunshine Millions Dash. Saturday’s program was run in dry conditions, but rain began falling on Saturday evening and continued through the night.

The storm was not expected to end until Monday. “We’re looking at maybe an inch” of additional rain on Sunday, Charles said. On Sunday, the main track was vacant, and the only training occurred on the infield training track. The cancellation of Sunday’s program resulted in the postponement of the $250,000 Santa Monica Handicap, a Grade 1 for fillies and mares over seven furlongs.

The race might be run on Saturday, a program that already features four stakes races, including the $300,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds and the $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds. Santa Anita will approach the California Horse Racing Board about a contingency plan to add racing dates or move some racing dates to Hollywood Park in the event of further washouts, Charles said on Sunday.

The current meeting runs until April 20. “We continue to talk to the CHRB about Hollywood Park” Charles said. “We’re hopeful we won’t have to go. We have to have that contingency plan in place.” The upcoming maintenance project will be conducted around-the-clock to be completed in minimal time.

“Once we get it in, everyone is very confident that we won’t miss any more days for the rest of the meeting,” Charles said. “Hopefully, it will be in on Friday the 8th.”



by STEVE ANDERSEN of DRF.com

Pussycat Doll set for Santa Monica defense
Pussycat Doll will defend her title in Sunday's $250,000 Santa Monica Handicap at Santa Anita. At least, that was the plan as of Thursday. With widespread concern that wet weather would disrupt racing beyond the cancellation of Thursday's eight-race program, trainer Bob Baffert was hopeful that Pussycat Doll could run in the Grade 1 race at seven furlongs.

"I like the way she's training," he said. "The track condition will play a big part of it. It's out of our hands." Track officials said Thursday that the prospects for weekend racing were uncertain.

A significant rainstorm was expected on Saturday night. "The weather has been wrong before," said the track's president, Ron Charles. Like many horsemen, Baffert was hoping that racing will not face further disruption.

"They won't run unless they think it's safe," Baffert said. "We just don't know what's going to happen." Owned by Mike Pegram, Pussycat Doll, 6, has won 7 of 17 starts and $797,183.

She began and ended her seven-race campaign last year with stakes wins - the Santa Monica and the minor Storm Flag Flying Stakes over a sloppy track at Belmont Park in October. In between, her best results were a second-place finish to Hystericalady in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs in May and a third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park in September.

Hystericalady is the 122-pound topweight in the Santa Monica, which will be her first start since finishing a heartbreaking second to Ginger Punch in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27.