Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Greyvitos is rested and ready
DEL MAR, Calif. – Act 1 for Greyvitos included a pair of stakes victories last year as a 2-year-old. Act 2 included a Hail Mary attempt to make the Kentucky Derby following a four-month layoff.
Act 3 begins on Sunday at Del Mar, when the talented 3-yearold colt returns from a layoff of nearly seven months in a second-level allowance that is designed to have him at his best for the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes going seven furlongs on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.
“He hasn’t missed a beat,” Adam Kitchingman, who trains Greyvitos, said at his Del Mar barn on Friday morning. “He’s been galloping like a beast out there, eating well, acting good.
“I’d like to have a few more works into him. If he runs well and comes out of this good, we’re looking at the Malibu, and I didn’t want to go seveneighths with him in a race that tough off a layoff.”
Greyvitos has six rivals on Sunday in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint, race 8 on the nine-race card, including Grade 3 stakes winner Lord Simba, who is making his first start since August of 2017.
Greyvitos raced four times last year at age 2, and finished off his campaign with a win in the Grade 3 Bob Hope here and in the Springboard Mile at Remington. But he was injured in the Springboard Mile and had to have surgery to remove a chip from a knee.
He was put back into training in the spring in time to try and make the Derby off an abbreviated work pattern and racing schedule.
“Everyone’s dream is to run in the Derby, mine included,” Kitchingman said. “We had to give it a shot.”
Greyvitos returned in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, and finished fourth after setting the early pace.
“I thought he ran really well,” Kitchingman said. “The track wasn’t speed favoring, and he just got tired. He was probably short a few works.”
Plans for the Derby were abandoned, but Greyvitos still ran on Derby Day at Churchill Downs, finishing 13th of 14 in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile. He was injured anew in that race, which was run on a sloppy, sealed track.
“He ripped off his shoe and half his right front foot and cut himself pretty good,” Kitchingman said. “And we needed to clean up the knee a little. We gave him plenty of time.”
Greyvitos has had a steady work pattern for his latest comeback, first at San Luis Rey Downs, and in recent weeks at Del Mar. He will be ridden by Joel Rosario, who rode Greyvitos in the Lexington and will be relocating to Santa Anita for the start of the winter meeting.
“Joel rode him great that day,” Kitchingman said. “Gave him a perfect trip.”
Hammerle reportedly dismissed
Rick Hammerle has been dismissed as racing secretary at Santa Anita, several people with knowledge of the situation said on Friday morning.
The decision was made less than a month before Santa Anita begins its signature sixmonth winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.
Hammerle was not immediately available for comment. Tim Ritvo, the chief operating officer of the track’s parent company, The Stronach Group, did not return a phone call or a text message for comment on Friday morning. Ritvo has taken an active role in the day-to-day operations of Santa Anita in the last 18 months.
It was not clear on Friday morning who will direct Santa Anita’s racing department for the upcoming meeting. The track has yet to publish its first condition book detailing the proposed races for the first few weeks of the meeting.
The decision is part of an executive upheaval at Santa Anita this fall. On Nov. 24, track announcer Michael Wrona said that his contract was not being renewed. Last Monday, Santa Anita announced that Frank Mirahmadi, who is currently calling races at Aqueduct, will start the Santa Anita job on Dec. 26.
Earlier in November, the XBTV and simulcast divisions at Santa Anita were reorganized and streamlined, with layoffs affecting several on-air and production personnel.
Hammerle, who has been involved in racing since 1986, was named racing secretary at Santa Anita in 2003 and given the title of vice president of racing in 2011. On a national basis, Hammerle has worked on the graded stakes committee and the selection committee for the Breeders’ Cup races.
Earlier in his career, Hammerle worked at tracks in Florida, New Jersey, and Northern California.
Mandatory pick six payout
With Del Mar closing on Sunday, the pick six must be paid out in its entirety, but the chance of having a massive carryover was short-circuited on Thursday when one ticket took down the pool to the tune of $218,929.
Concord Jet, the winner of the final race on Thursday, had to survive a stewards’ inquiry into the start of the race. Had he been taken down, the singleticket jackpot would have carried over.
There was a carryover of $155,879 in the single-ticket jackpot entering Thursday’s card, which drew $97,191 in fresh money.