Photo: NYRA, Adam Coglianese
Neil Drysdale has had The Lumber Guy since the gray son of Grand Slam
ran a bang up second to Trinniberg in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa
Anita on Nov. 3, when the colt was moved from trainer Michael Hushion
to the Hall of Fame trainer at Betfair Hollywood Park.
“He’s doing well so far,” Drysdale said of The Lumber Guy, who
shows five published workouts over Hollywood’s Cushion Track since his
Sprint runner-up effort under John Velazquez, who comes in from the East
Coast to ride The Lumber Guy in the Malibu.
With rain falling on Santa Anita into Monday morning, the main
track was closed to workouts although the training track was open.
Drysdale said The Lumber Guy, the 3-1 morning line favorite, would run
in the Malibu even if the track were off.
Owned by Barry Schwartz, The Lumber Guy has s four wins from
seven starts and earnings of $735,800. He already has a Grade I win,
coming in the Vosburgh Invitational over a “good” Belmont track last
Sept. 29.
The field for the Malibu, race eight of nine: Fed Biz, Mike
Smith, 9-2; Jimmy Creed, Garrett Gomez, 6-1; Drill, Martin Garcia, 4-1;
The Lumber Guy, John Velazquez, 3-1; Politicallycorrect, Joel Rosario,
6-1; Basmati, Mario Gutierrez, 20-1; Castaway, Joe Talamo, 20-1; Private
Zone, Martin Pedroza, 10-1; Guilt Trip, Rafael Bejarano, 12-1; and
Unbridled’s Note, Corey Nakatani, 9-2.