Back home, Smooth Like Strait can rebound in Twilight Derby

A wide trip attending a sharp pace over a Churchill Downs grass course with some give in it were too many hurdles for Smooth Like Strait to overcome in his last start. Back home at Santa Anita on the fast ground he craves, Smooth Like Strait is afforded the chance for a bounce-back effort on Sunday in the Grade 2, $200,000 Twilight Derby for 3-year-old turf runners.

But there are new hurdles facing Smooth Like Strait. For the first time in his career, he will try to stretch out to 1 1/8 miles, and he’s facing some intriguing shippers, including Farmington Road, who won his turf debut at Colonial Downs in his last start and bypassed the Belmont Derby to come west.

Seven others are entered in the race, including multiple stakes winner Field Pass, and Margot’s Boy and Dominant Soul, second and third, respectively, in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby last time out.

Smooth Like Strait had won two straight prior to his last start, the Grade 2 American Turf on the Kentucky Derby undercard Sept. 5. Sent off the 6-5 favorite, he was wide pressing the sharp pace of two longshots and retreated late, finishing fourth.

“I thought we were a little bit unlucky in Kentucky,” Michael McCarthy, who trains Smooth Like Strait, said Friday morning. “There were three inches of rain earlier in the week, so even though the course was listed as firm it was a little soft for his liking. He was part of a three-horse speed duel. Since coming back here he’s trained forwardly.

“The mile and an eighth is a little bit of a question, but he’s so talented and has so much natural speed he should be able to handle it.”

Umberto Rispoli, who rode Smooth Like Strait to victory at Del Mar in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap, has the mount.

Farmington Road is making his first start since beating a first-level allowance field at Colonial on July 29. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, on Friday said the Belmont Derby on Oct. 3 was also under consideration for Farmington Road, but Oct. 3 also was the date of the Preakness and the opening of the Keeneland meet.

“We had this race on our radar and the Belmont Derby, but that day was a tricky weekend in terms of jockey assignments, like a lot of days and weekends have been this year,” Pletcher said. “We were able to get a jockey we wanted for this race.”

That would be Flavien Prat. This is a far stronger field than what Farmington Road beat at Colonial, but Pletcher liked the way he won.

“He was bottled up and had an explosive turn of foot,” he said.

Field Pass was third in the American Turf while finishing 2 1/4 lengths in front of Smooth Like Strait. He moved sharply to take the lead at mid-stretch but faltered late.

Dominant Soul and Margot’s Boy both should be prominent early. Kiss Today Goodbye was fifth behind those two in the Del Mar Derby while compromised by the soft pace. K P All Systems Go, eighth in the Del Mar Derby after finishing third in the La Jolla, was similarly impacted by the slow fractions last time out.

The highly regarded Express Train makes his turf debut after finishing second to a strong group of older allowance runners. Scarto completes the field.

The Twilight Derby is race 9 on the 10-race card.

◗ Race 8 Sunday is the $75,000 Anoakia, a six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies that finally went with a field of five after being carried over from last Monday’s card owing to insufficient entries then. The field includes Queengol and Kalypso, one-two in a Sept. 5 maiden race at Del Mar; Forest Caraway and Illumination, distant secondand third-place finishers in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante; and debut winner Needless to Say.

Ce Ce, Speech on busy work tab

Ce Ce and Speech, both bound for Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 7 at Keeneland for trainer Michael McCarthy, worked five furlongs Friday at Santa Anita, topping a work tab that included several others with Breeders’ Cup designs.

Ce Ce (1:01.40) is headed to the Distaff, while Speech (59.60) is being considered for both the Distaff and the Filly and Mare Sprint, McCarthy said.

McCarthy also sent his Dirt Mile prospect Rushie out for a five-furlong drill in 1:00.40.

Other works of note Friday in advance of the Breeders’ Cup included Caisson (half-mile, 47.80) for the Juvenile Turf for Richard Mandella, Madone (halfmile, 49) for the Juvenile Fillies Turf for Simon Callaghan, and United (six furlongs, 1:11) for the Turf for Mandella.

At Los Alamitos, Pegasus World Cup winner Mucho Gusto, idle since finishing fourth in the Saudi Cup, went a half-mile in 49 seconds for trainer Bob Baffert. Now owned by Saudi interests, he is being pointed to encore performances in the Pegasus and Saudi Cup.