Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Pavel tops opening-day card
Pavel, the 3-year-old colt trained by Doug O’Neill, was never a factor in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 4. Sent off at 28-1, Pavel was sixth on the backstretch and faded to finish 10th, the worst loss of his five-race career.
The assignment was too tough for Pavel, who won the Grade 3 Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania on Sept. 4 in his third start.
Pavel’s next race is a more appropriate goal – the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. The $300,000 Malibu Stakes is one of four graded stakes on opening day of the track’s winter-spring meeting. Los Alamitos ends its December meeting Sunday.
The Malibu will be Pavel’s first start against his age group since the Smarty Jones Stakes. In between the Smarty Jones and the Breeders’ Cup he finished third in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont.
“The Malibu will be tough, but it’s a cut below the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” O’Neill said Friday. “We’ve freshened him a little bit. He came out of the Classic in good shape.”
Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Pavel has run only once in a sprint, winning a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on July 1 in his debut.
Other leading candidates for the Malibu are Favorable Outcome, the winner of the Grade 2 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream in February; Edwards Going Left, who won the Cary Grant Stakes for Californiabreds at Del Mar on Nov. 19; and Irish Freedom, who was second in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 25.
The Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Dec. 26 will be the first meeting between the multiple stakes winners Paradise Woods and Unique Bella.
Paradise Woods was third in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 3. Unique Bella was seventh in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
The $300,000 La Brea Stakes is run at seven furlongs.
There are two Grade 2 races on Dec. 26 – the $300,000 San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/16 miles and the $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile on turf for 3-year-olds.
San Luis Rey survivor starts
The 4-year-old filly Scathing won a starter allowance at five furlongs Thursday at Los Alamitos, becoming the first horse based at San Luis Rey Downs to start after the devastating wildfire that struck the Bonsall, Calif., training center on Dec. 7.
To be allowed to run, Scathing underwent a two-stage respiratory exam required for any horse based at San Luis Rey Downs at the time of the fire.
Trainer Adam Kitchingman’s attending veterinarian was required to sign a statement stating Scathing was fit to run and had undergone an exam that found “no evidence of respiratory inflammation.”
In addition, state veterinarians listened to the filly’s breathing with a stethoscope as part of a scheduled pre-race examination to ensure she was fit to race.
The pre-race procedure was welcomed by winning owner Cody Polansky, a 48-year-old plumbing contractor from Topanga Canyon, Calif.
“No one knew for sure, but we thought she was in good shape,” Polansky said in the winner’s circle.
Horses based at San Luis Rey Downs were evacuated to Del Mar hours after the fire. The wildfire claimed the lives of 46 horses. Eight barns were destroyed.
Kitchingman said last weekend his stable was not severely affected by the fire and that some of his horses were evacuated to Del Mar before the fire reached the training center.
Ridden by Santiago Gonzalez, Scathing ($10.60) rallied between horses to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Aiming Straight.
Polansky claimed Scathing for $8,000 on Oct. 6, the day the filly won at Santa Anita. Scathing was seventh in an allowance race for California-bred fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 10. Thursday’s race was her second for Polansky.
Maragh moving to California
Rajiv Maragh, the regular rider of recent champions Groupie Doll and Main Sequence, is relocating to California for the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.
In a phone interview Friday, Maragh said he plans to work horses at Santa Anita on Monday and Tuesday before returning to New York for mounts later in the week. He will return to California for opening day.
“Once I get settled in, I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ve always thought that one day I’d want to try California.”
Maragh was at Del Mar on Nov. 26 when he rode Thundering Sky to a 10th-place finish in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes. During the trip, he was approached by jockey agent Nelson Arroyo, who suggested the move.
“Nelson approached me and put it in my mind that now could be a good time,” Maragh said. “The more I thought about it, it started to feel like something I wanted to do.”
Maragh, 32, had won 1,781 races through Thursday. Earlier this year, Maragh won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes on Irish War Cry, who was later 10th in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes.