Lava Man, winner of the 2006 Pacific Classic, is not
quite ready for prime time, his former trainer Doug O'Neill said Friday
morning.
That means he wouldn't be a candidate to lead the
parade to the post for the 2010 Pacific Classic on Saturday, August 28, at Del Mar.
O'Neill declined an offer for Lava Man to lead the parade to the post for the
Hollywood Gold Cup, citing the same reason.
"He's making progress every day," O'Neill
said of the old warrior's new life as a stable pony, but he still shows his
competitive spirit often. "When he breaks off a worker, he always acts
like he wants to go, too. He's still very competitive, and that might not go
well as leader of a post parade."
Lava Man is third-leading earner among Cal-breds with
$5.2 million in purse money on a record of 17 victories, eight seconds and five
thirds in 47 career starts. He won the Gold Cup three times and the Santa Anita
Handicap twice to go along with his Pacific Classic victory. In 2006, he won
all three, becoming the only horse to capture all three in the same year.