Photo: Hollywood Park
Two-year-olds were coming from everywhere for the $750,000
CashCall Futurity December 17 at Hollywood Park.
Desormais was flown to California from Europe Wednesday, one
day after Cozzetti arrived from Kentucky, to swell the probable lineup to 13 in
the Grade I test at 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track.
“Desormais is en route from Amsterdam as we speak,” said
Aron Wellman, head of the Eclipse Thoroughbred partnership that owns the colt,
Wednesday morning of a scheduled noon landing. He is scheduled to join the
Paddy Gallagher stable after clearing quarantine.
“We bought Desormais after he broke his maiden in his third
start on November 15, at a mile and a quarter at Marseilles,” said Wellman of
the French-raced Kentucky-bred colt, a son of War Front.
“I’m worried the Futurity might be a little too short for
him,” added Wellman. “He won on an all-weather track, a tight left-handed
course.”
Cozzetti got his first look at the track after being shipped
in from Kentucky by trainer Dale Romans. The gray/roan son of Cozzene walked
shedrow in Barn 50 South with groom Ubaldo Maldonado after jogging two miles on
the main track with exercise rider Faustino Aguilar.
Cozzetti broke his maiden by five lengths in his third try
on a sloppy Churchill Downs track November 16 at 1 1/16 miles under Julien
Leparoux.
Owner Jeff Bloom and trainer Peter Miller were ecstatic
after Majestic City showed his readiness for the Futurity with a bullet
four-furlong work in 46.80 seconds.
“Our guy is unbeaten on this track, three for three, and the
only bad race he’s run is in the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf), where he didn’t
get over the soft footing,” said Bloom of the Hollywood Juvenile Championship
winner.
Bloom said that Ramon Dominguez will ride the colt for the
first time. Miller won the 2010 Futurity with Comma to the Top.
Majestic City, Desormais and Cozzetti could join a lineup
including the Bob Baffert-trained trio of Liaison, So Brilliant and Sky
Kingdom, the Doug O’Neill-trained duo of Basmati and Handsome Mike, the Jerry
Hollendofer-conditioned pair of Rousing Sermon and Longview Drive, Brother
Francis, Empire Way and Maryland shipper Lucky Chappy.