Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Carrick looks to bounce back
Carrick was halfway through the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Sept. 29 at Belmont Park when trainer Tom Morley saw alarming signals. Carrick, 3, was struggling on the soft turf.
“We could see it on the backstretch,” Morley recalled Wednesday. “He was not handling the ground.”
Carrick finished 27 1/2 lengths behind winner Channel Maker in the Joe Hirsch, his debut against older horses. That loss ended any thoughts of starting Carrick in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
Carrick does have a Grade 1 assignment in Saturday’s $300,000 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar.
This will be Morley’s first starter at Del Mar. The last time Carrick started against strictly 3-year-olds, he won the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at 38-1 on Aug. 11 at Arlington Park.
That race was at 1 1/4 miles, and Morley said Wednesday that the shorter distance of the Hollywood Derby is one of his few concerns.
“He might want a 10-furlong race,” Morley said. “We’re looking at a big field and an honest pace in California. He’ll be very dangerous at nine furlongs.
“I don’t think the trip will be too much of an issue. Hopefully, he can be stalking in the second rank.”
Kent Desormeaux will ride Carrick for the first time, replacing John Velazquez, who is scheduled to ride at Aqueduct on Saturday.
Owned by Donegal Racing, Carrick was shipped to California on Tuesday, a 16-hour journey, Morley said.
“We had a long day yesterday,” Morley said Wednesday. “He’s an experienced traveler. He took the journey well and ate well last night.”
On Wednesday, Carrick had a one-mile jog, Morley said.
Aside from Carrick, the projected starters in the Hollywood Derby are Californiagoldrush, Desert Stone, Fight On, Have At It, Instilled Regard, Kazan, Platinum Warrior, Prince Earl, Pubilius Syrus, Raging Bull, Risky Proposition, River Boyne, and Way Early.
Californiagoldrush, unraced since winning the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes on Sept. 15 at Belmont Park, is the lone filly in the field.
Vasilika has tough task
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer swept last Sunday’s stakes at Del Mar with Battle of Midway in the Native Diver and Flying Scotsman in the Cecil B. DeMille, and now he’ll be taking aim at some of the biggest prizes left on the circuit this year, including the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes on closing day here Sunday with Vasilika.
“It’s a tough race, but we’ve got a tough horse,” Hollendorfer said.
Indeed, the $300,000 Matriarch, at one mile on turf for females, is shaping up as an outstanding race. Several invaders are expected to run, most notably the Chad Brown-trained trio of Quidura, Rymska, and Uni, as well as Daddy Is a Legend, Dona Bruja, Mission Impassible, and Valadorna.
Vasilika is the best of the locals, and will come into the Matriarch riding an eight-race winning streak, including the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive and Grade 2 Goldikova at Santa Anita in her last two starts. She won twice here during the summer meeting, including the Grade 2 John Mabee.
Hollendorfer is scheduled to have runners in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Los Alamitos on Dec. 8, as well as the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Santa Anita’s opening day, Dec. 26.
Dueling and Gunmetal Gray, who finished fifth and sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile earlier this month, both are candidates for the Futurity. They worked in company Sunday at Santa Anita, going five furlongs in 1:01.
“The Futurity is possible for either one or both,” Hollendorfer said.
He is pointing the comebacking Kanthaka to the Malibu. Unraced since winning the Grade 3 Laz Barrera at Santa Anita in May, Kanthaka worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 on Tuesday morning at Santa Anita.
“That race is always very tough,” Hollendorfer said Tuesday. “I want to make sure he’s ready.”
Hollendorfer said Kanthaka was off because “he had a tiny problem in an ankle.”
“We gave him plenty of time,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a problem ever again.”
Battle of Midway and Flying Scotsman both could join Kanthaka early at the Santa Anita meeting. Battle of Midway is being pointed to the Grade 2 San Antonio on Dec. 26, while Flying Scotsman could go in the Eddie Logan on Dec. 28.
“I don’t know if we’ll run in that race or not, but it’s certainly under consideration,” Hollendorfer said Tuesday of Flying Scotsman. “I hate to be a big predictor, but I really like this horse a lot. He came home fast.”
Improbable tunes up
The CashCall Futurity will be headed by the unbeaten Improbable, who worked seven furlongs Tuesday at Santa Anita in 1:27 in his penultimate drill for the race.
Improbable is one of two horses trainer Bob Baffert said he will run in the Futurity. He also intends to start Mucho Gusto, winner of the Bob Hope on Nov. 17 at Del Mar.
Baffert also said he intends to run a pair of fillies – Chasing Yesterday and Mother Mother – in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Starlet the same day as the Futurity. Both worked six furlongs Tuesday, with Chasing Yesterday – American Pharoah’s half-sister – timed in 1:13.80, and Mother Mother in 1:14.20.
Baffert unleashed yet another promising 2-year-old on Sunday at Del Mar when the Cairo Prince filly Qahira won her debut.
“She was pretty impressive,” Baffert said Tuesday. “She came out of the race really well. She’s got a good mind on her. Distance shouldn’t be a problem for her.”
Baffert said Qahira would make her next start during the Santa Anita meeting, which begins Dec. 26.