Photo: NYRA, Adam Coglianese
Garrett Gomez is looking forward to riding Breeders’ Cup Sprint
runner-up The Lumber Guy for the first time in a race in the Grade II
San Carlos Stakes at seven furlongs on Saturday.
Gomez was aboard the 4-year-old gray son of Grand Slam owned by
Barry Schwartz and trained by Neil Drysdale for a five furlong workout
at Santa Anita last Saturday in a bullet 58.40, uncharacteristically
quick time for a Drysdale worker.
“Neil told me he’s fast and he’s a little aggressive when he was
kind of laying out the work he was looking for,” said Gomez, third in
Santa Anita’s standings nearing today’s halfway point in the meet with
26 victories. “He told me some of the habits, and about his last work.
“He just wanted something nice. The horse broke off, he towed me
up the backside, towed me all the way around there and turning for home,
I finally got him to shut off a little without getting him turned off
completely.
“Honestly, I thought he went about a minute flat. He wasn’t doing
much down the lane, but he was going fast enough where I felt I was
hitting that minute. I didn’t want to squeeze him or anything.
“He was traveling well enough where he was doing things just
nice. When I came back, Neil thought he went a minute and change. I
thought he went a minute and they gave him 58 and two.
“We liked the work, we liked the way he did it and hopefully he’ll
bounce back and run more like his Breeders’ Cup race.”
The field for the San Carlos: Comma to the Top, Edwin Maldonado,
4-1; Capital Account, David Flores, 4-1; Justin Phillip, Mike Smith,
8-1; Canonize, Jose Valdivia Jr., 15-1; Midnight Transfer, Rafael
Bejarano, 3-1; Sahara Sky, Joe Talamo, 6-1; The Lumber Guy, Garrett
Gomez, 5-2; and Drill, Julien Leparoux, 12-1.