Four of the first five finishers
in the Oak Tree Derby Oct. 16 will have a rematch in the $250,000 Hollywood
Derby Sunday at Hollywood
Park.
A Grade I for 3-year-olds at 1 ¼
miles on grass, the Derby is the final race in Hollywood Park’s annual Turf Festival. The
other Turf Festival event Sunday card is the $100,000 Miesque, a Grade III for
2-year-old fillies at one mile. The Miesque is the seventh of 10 races while
the Hollywood Derby is the ninth.
Besides Fantastic Pick and Blue
Panis, the 1-2 finishers in the Oak Tree Derby, a Grade II, Sebastian Flyte,
who finished fourth, and Haimish Hy, who was fifth, will be back in this longer
affair.
Trained by Jaime Lloyd for Jim
Ford, Robert Mayock and Ken Smoke, Fantastic Pick scored the biggest upset in
Oak Tree Derby history with his head victory at 22-1. The Fantastic Light
gelding out of the Mtoto mare Umilio has won five of 15, banking $191,773. He’s
won three of last four and will be making his first appearance in a Grade 1. He
will be ridden by Corey Nakatani, a two-time Derby winner. Nakatani’s most recent score
came with Explosive Red in 1993.
Blue Panis set the pace and was
collared on the wire in his U.S.
debut last month for trainer Fabrice Chappet, who co-owns the French bred with
Norman Augustin. A son of Panis and the Bering mare Rhapsody in Blue, Blue
Panis has won three of 15. His bankroll is $204,666.
Three-quarters of a length behind
Fantastic Pick last month, Sebastian Flyte is a son of Observatory out of the
Night Shift mare Aravonian. He’s won twice in 10 starts. His most recent
victory came in an optional claimer in his United States debut Sept. 4 at Del
Mar. Owned by Triple B Farms and trained by Ben Cecil, Sebastian Flyte has
earned $95,003.
Haimish Hy will have a new rider
in the Derby.
Garrett Gomez, who will resume riding regularly again in Southern California
for the first time since spring, has the call on the son of Ecton Park
and the Equalize mare Tifonica.
Trained by Art Sherman, who also
is one Haimish Hy’s owners along with Zvika Akin, Richard Franco and Sy
Goldstein, Haimish Hy has won four of nine and earned $137,980.
Bothered by a shoulder injury he
suffered in a spill Nov. 4, Gomez returned to the saddle Wednesday at Churchill
Downs for the first time since his narrow Breeders’ Cup Classic win aboard
Blame Nov. 6.
Citrus Kid will make his California debut for
owners Golden Goose Enterprises, James Covello, Michael Imperio and Nick
Sallusto and trainer John Terranova. The Lemon Drop Kid colt out of the
Ginistrelli mare Orange Ice has won two of eight, earning $146,504. In his lone
previous start in a Grade 1, Citrus Kid was second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths by
Prince Will I Am in the Jamaica Handicap Oct. 9 at Belmont Park.
Juniper Pass, an allowance winner
Nov. 7 against older at the Derby
distance, has won two of seven for owners Robert and Betty Irvin and trainer
Ray Bell. The son of Lemon Drop Kid and the Coronado’s Quest mare Child Bride, who has
earned $70,200, has never competed in a graded stakes.
A son of Wildcat Heir and the Allen’s
Prospect mare Julie’s Prospect, Lions Story has won two of 11 and earned
$141,500. He is owned by a partnership that includes trainer Jerry Hollendorfer
and John Carver.
Fresh off his first win in the United States Nov. 19, Jairzinho will make his
initial appearance in a Grade I in the Derby.
Owned by Anthony Thompson and Neville Callaghan and trained by Simon Callaghan,
Jairzinho has won two of 17 and earned $124,249. He’s a son of Royal Applause
and the Polish Precedent mare Polish Belle.
From inside out, the field for the
Hollywood Derby: Lions Story, Mike Smith rides, 122 pounds; Blue Panis, Joe
Talamo, 122; Sebastian Flyte, Joel Rosario, 122; Juniper Pass, Brice Blanc,
122; Jairzinho, Patrick Valenzuela, 122; Citrus Kid, Rafael Bejarano, 122; Fantastic
Pick, Corey Nakatani, 122; Haimish Hy, Garrett Gomez, 122.
Owner-breeders Ken and Sarah
Ramsey will be seeking their second victory in the Miesque. The Ramseys, who
won with Bail Out Becky in 1994, will be represented Sunday by Holiday for Kitten.
A daughter of Kitten’s Joy and the
Cure the Blues mare Blue Holiday comes off a maiden win as the 2-1 favorite
Oct. 31 at Churchill Downs. Trained by Wesley Ward, she has earned $39,440 in
three starts.
Another filly shipping from Kentucky is Cloneylass.
Trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr. for owners Grey and Yarbrough, the daughter of
Verglas and the Common Grounds mare Consensus has won once in five starts,
banking $32,180. She was a distant third behind Kathmanblu in the $150,000
Jessamine Oct. 14 at Keeneland. Her lone victory came against maidens July 2 at
Bellestown in her native Ireland.
The other shipper in the Miesque
cast is Wave of Applause. A Royal Applause filly out of the Danehill mare
Making Waves she went 1-2 in Europe, earning
$15,373. She’s owned by David Bienstock and Charles Winner and trained by Jim
Cassidy.
Owned by breeder Pablo Suarez and
trained by Doug O’Neill, California Nectar will be making her turf debut. The
Stormy Atlantic filly out of the Carson
City mare Absolute Nectar has one win in four starts
with a bankroll of $57,800. In her last start, she lost by a nose to Swiss Wild
Cat in the California
Cup Juvenile Fillies Oct. 30.
Neversaidiwassweet defeated
maidens in her first in California
Oct. 14. Kristin Mulhall trains the daughter of Eurosilver and the Storm Creek
mare Surging Storm for American Equistock Racing, Inc. The win came in her
third start. Neversaidiwassweet has earned $26,370.
Completing the field are Lucky
Trippi, who was a main track sprint winner against $50,000 maidens Oct. 14 for
Green Grass Stable and trainer Ruben Cardenas and Katy’s Kitty, who has won win
in three outings for owner-breeder John Liviakis and trainer Melody Conlon.
From inside out, the field for the
Miesque Stakes: Neversaidiwassweet, Rafael Bejarano rides, 118 pounds; Holiday
for Kitten, Joel Rosario, 118; California Nectar, Patrick Valenzuela, 116;
Cloneylass, Corey Nakatani, 116; Katy’s Kitty, Johnny Gihua, 114; Wave of
Applause, Mike Smith, 116 and Lucky Trippi, Edwin Maldonado-Alicea, 117.
The Sunday program also includes
the $55,000 Wild Harmony Stakes for older horses at six furlongs on the turf.
My Summer Slew, who won the Robert K. Kerlan Memorial earlier this year at this
distance over this course, heads a field of six.