Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Smith hopes to resume riding prior to Los Alamitos Futurity
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who has not ridden since Nov. 29, said Friday that he expects to emerge from a 14-day quarantine forced by a recent coronavirus positive in time to ride Petruchio in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19.
Smith tested positive in advance of scheduled mounts at Los Alamitos last weekend, the initial days of the track’s current three-week Los Angeles County Fair meeting.
Smith said he hopes to be cleared to ride the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity. The quarantine period ends Thursday, he said.
“I feel great,” he said. “I have to wait the 14 days anyway and make sure it’s negative. Once it’s up, you have to have a negative test and you’re back in. I think I’ll be able to ride the futurity.
“I never felt that bad. I lost my smell and my taste. I feel really good now.”
Smith said his sense of taste and smell has “just about” returned. He said he had “no clue” how he contracted the virus. Smith, 55, last rode on the final day of the Del Mar autumn meeting.
Petruchio, trained by Richard Mandella for Perry and Ramona Bass, won a maiden special weight race on turf at Del Mar on Oct. 31 in his fourth start. The Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles will be Petruchio’s stakes debut.
Petruchio was gelded in late summer, after two thirdplace finishes in maiden special weight races in maintrack sprints at the Del Mar summer meeting. Petruchio was second by a neck as the 8-5 favorite in a one-mile maiden race on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 4 in his first start as a gelding.
By Into Mischief, Petruchio won the Oct. 31 race by 1 3/4 lengths as the 11-10 favorite under Smith.
Mandella said Friday that he wants to learn whether gelding Petruchio or the surface switch was the leading factor in the maiden race win.
The Los Alamitos Futurity will have a small field. Candidates includes Red Flag, Uncle Boogie, and Spielberg, the first-, second-, and fourth-place finishers in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 15.
Track officials said the field could increase before entries are taken Wednesday.
The Los Alamitos Futurity is the leading race on the final week of the track’s meeting, which concludes Dec. 20. The Santa Anita winter-spring meeting begins Dec. 26.
Smooth Like Strait works bullet
Smooth Like Strait, a fourtime stakes winner in the last 13 months, will have his final start of 2020 in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile for 3-year-olds on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.
Trainer Michael McCarthy confirmed the plans after Smooth Like Strait worked a half-mile in 48 seconds at Santa Anita on Friday, the fastest of 58 works at the distance.
“I was very pleased with what I saw,” McCarthy said.
Owned by Cannon Thoroughbreds, Smooth Like Strait was second by a head as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 28, leading in the final furlong before being caught by Domestic Spending. Smooth Like Strait’s most prestigious win was the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 18.
Friday at Santa Anita, the two-time stakes winner Independence Hall worked five furlongs in 1:00 for a scheduled start in the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. Previously trained by Michael Trombetta, Independence Hall won his debut for McCarthy in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 8.
McCarthy said he is also considering Stellar Sound for the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on Dec. 26. Stellar Sound was third as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos on Dec. 5. Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Stellar Sound was guided to the front on the backstretch. Stellar Sound led by two lengths but faded to finish 6 1/2 lengths behind Proud Emma.
First post changes
Post times will be moved forward 30 minutes on the final four days of the Los Alamitos meeting, with programs starting at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 17-18 and noon on Dec. 19-20, the track announced Thursday. The track anticipates adding a race per day, with nine races on weekdays and 10 races on weekends.
This week, weekday programs have had eight races, with nine race on weekends.
Through Thursday, the fourth day of the 11-day meeting, Los Alamitos was averaging nine runners per race compared to 6.94 runners per race at a similar point at the corresponding meeting in December 2019. The growth this year is largely attributable to shippers from Golden Gate Fields, which is not racing because of a coronavirus outbreak in the stable area.