Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Intimidate eyes California Derby
CYPRESS, Calif. – Intimidate will be considered for stakes at Golden Gate Fields or Santa Anita after winning for the third time in his four-race career in Saturday’s $100,000 King Glorious Stakes at Los Alamitos.
Trainer Bob Hess Sr. said Sunday that Intimidate will probably run next in the $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 20, or the $200,000 California Cup Derby for statebreds at Santa Anita on Feb. 19. Both are at 1 1/16 miles.
Intimidate’s victory in the one-mile King Glorious for California-breds was his first in a stakes.
Hess said that Intimidate will be based at Santa Anita with his son Bob Hess Jr. The Grade 3 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds will be run there on Jan. 6, but Hess said the California Derby has more appeal because he expects the competition to be softer.
“That’s easier than any race at Santa Anita,” he said.
Hess said that Intimidate emerged from the King Glorious in excellent condition.
“Everything looks good so far,” he said Sunday.
Ridden by Mike Smith, Intimidate led or disputed the pace throughout the King Glorious and won by 1 1/4 lengths over Lucky Romano after a stretchlong duel. The King Glorious was Intimidate’s first start on dirt and at a mile.
He won two of his first three starts, all on the Tapeta synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields.
Intimidate, by Vronsky, has earned $99,640 and is owned by James Eaton, Maria Hess, and breeder Don Muldoon.
Baffert tops Los Alamitos trainers
Bob Baffert led all trainers at the 11-day Los Alamitos winter meeting with six wins, two of which were in Grade 1 races.
On Dec. 9, Baffert became the first trainer to win the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes and Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity in the same year.
The Los Alamitos meet began Nov. 30 and ended Sunday.
Baffert won the Starlet with Dream Tree and the Los Alamitos Futurity with McKinzie, who was promoted from second to first after the Baffert-trained Solomini was disqualified and placed third for causing interference in the stretch.
No trainer had won both races in the same year since the Starlet was first run at Hollywood Park in 1981. The races shifted to Los Alamitos in 2014.
Apprentice jockey Evin Roman led all riders with 18 wins, 10 more than Stewart Elliott, who finished second. The 19-year-old Roman, almost a certainty to be recognized with the Eclipse Award as the outstanding apprentice jockey of 2017, also won riding titles at Los Alamitos in July and September.
Fields averaged 7.54 runners per race, below the 7.9 average of the 2016 December meeting but the highest of the three meetings held at Los Alamitos this year. The July meeting averaged 6.8 runners per race, while the Los Angeles County Fair meeting in September averaged 6.93 runners.
“The December meeting is usually the best meeting of the three,” racing secretary Bob Moreno said.
Track vice president Jack Liebau said business and field size on the final six days of the meeting were hurt because of the devastating wildfire that struck the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Bonsall, Calif., on Dec. 7. The fire, which killed 46 horses, prompted the cancellation of the Dec. 8 card, and forced horsemen stabled there to focus on reforming their stables at Del Mar.
Los Alamitos will have three meetings in 2018, beginning with a summer meeting from June 28 to July 15 following the end of the Santa Anita springsummer meeting and prior to the Del Mar summer meeting.
Moreno said the summer meeting will be highlighted by two graded stakes – the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for female sprinters and the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby.
A three-week Los Angeles County Fair meeting will be held at Los Alamitos in September. A two-week meeting will be held there in December.
Colonist preps for Malibu Stakes
Colonist, who finished third in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on turf at Del Mar in August, worked six furlongs in 1:13.80 Saturday for a scheduled start in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, opening day of the winter-spring meet.
The Malibu Stakes for 3-yearolds at seven furlongs will be the Grade 1 debut for Colonist, who has not raced since finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on turf Sept. 4.
Owned by Stonestreet Stable and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Colonist was fourth behind West Coast in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on dirt in July.
The Malibu is one of four stakes on the opening-day program of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. The stakes winners Edwards Going Left, Favorable Outcome, Pavel, and Irish Freedom are other leading candidates.
The $300,000 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs is the other Grade 1 race on the Dec. 26 program. The La Brea Stakes will be the first meeting between the multiple stakes winners Paradise Woods and Unique Bella.
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.
Miller gets boost from Family Girl
Family Girl provided a muchneeded boost for trainer Peter Miller’s stable after the 2-yearold filly won a $32,000 claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs in Sunday’s first race at Los Alamitos.
Family Girl was Miller’s first starter since a devastating wildfire struck the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Bonsall, Calif., on Dec. 7. Most of Miller’s stable is based at San Luis Rey Downs.
Miller had 77 horses based at San Luis Rey Downs on the day of the fire and lost five of them.