Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Spielberg tops Lewis hopefuls to beat rain with workouts
With significant rain in the forecast for the weekend, a number of horses with designs on major races next weekend got in drills on Friday morning at Santa Anita, included Spielberg, the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity winner, who is scheduled to compete in the Grade 3, $100,000 Robert Lewis Stakes on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Spielberg worked five furlongs in company with Medina Spirit, with both receiving times of 1:01.20.
Bob Baffert, who trains both colts, on Friday morning said Spielberg was “for sure” to run in the Lewis but he had yet to decide on what he would do with Medina Spirit. One possibility could be next month’s Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, whose meet began Friday with the Smarty Jones Stakes.
Medina Spirit comes off a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 2 to stablemate Life Is Good, who is awaiting the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 6, putting him on the same schedule as Authentic – the eventual Kentucky Derby winner – last year. Life Is Good has worked once since the Sham, breezing four furlongs in 47 seconds on Jan. 11. He had a routine training session Friday.
“There was a little bug, a little virus, going through the barn,” Baffert said. “He never really got sick. But since he wasn’t going to run until March, we took it easy with him. He’s galloping.”
Among those scheduled to face Spielberg in the Lewis are the Doug O’Neill-trained duo of Hot Rod Charlie and Wipe the Slate, both of whom worked Friday.
Hot Rod Charlie, idle since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, worked six furlongs in 1:16.60. Wipe the Slate, who defeated maidens in his second start after finishing second to Life Is Sweet in their respective debuts at Del Mar, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60.
“Both are pointing to the Bob Lewis after their works this morning,” O’Neill said.
Rombauer, fifth in the Juvenile, is under consideration for the Lewis for Michael McCarthy. Rombauer, too, worked Friday, going five furlongs in 1:02.20.
In other significant 3-yearold news, Get Her Number – last seen winning the Grade 1 American Pharoah last fall at Santa Anita – had his first work of the year on Friday, going three furlongs in 38.80 seconds at San Luis Rey Downs for trainer Peter Miller.
– Jay Privman
Idol to San Pasqual
Idol finished his 3-year-old season on Dec. 26 with a secondplace finish by a half-length in his stakes debut in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
The race served as the start of a winter campaign that could lead to a stakes win as quickly as next Saturday.
Idol is scheduled to start in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Jan. 30, a $200,000 race that is a key prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 6.
“I want to run him a mile and a quarter anyway,” trainer Richard Baltas said.
Friday, Idol worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 at Santa Anita.
“I got him faster than that, in a minute and change,” Baltas said.
“He’s trained great. You try to keep a good horse healthy and sound. He’s worked easily and outworked the horses he’s been with. He’s ready, I think.”
Owned by Calvin Nguyen, Idol has won 2 of 4 starts. He won an allowance race at 1 3/16 miles at Churchill Downs on Nov. 8 in his final start in Kentucky before being transferred to Baltas’s California division.
In the San Antonio, Idol was beaten by Kiss Today Goodbye, who was entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.
The San Pasqual is one of three graded stakes on the Jan. 30 program at Santa Anita along with the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
In the $200,000 San Marcos, Baltas plans to start Oscar Dominguez, who won the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar in 2019 and was second in the 2020 San Marcos, and Masteroffoxhounds, who won an allowance race at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 28 in his second start in the United States.
Rosales balances two careers
A typical day for Southern California trainer Richard Rosales has two beginnings.
In the 3 o’clock hour – that’s a.m. – Rosales and his wife, Elena, head to Los Alamitos to care for their small stable. By 8 a.m., Rosales is back home. Class is nearly in session.
For the next six hours, Rosales teaches 26 fourth-graders in the Los Angeles Unified School District. For nearly a year, the class has assembled via the internet because of the pandemic. Normally, Rosales would be in a classroom in Gardena, Calif.
With a holiday last Monday, Rosales devoted his afternoon to racing and watched Tromador win a $12,500 claiming race at Santa Anita, the 5-year-old’s first win since he was claimed for that price last June.
Rosales, 59, trains four horses, a stable that will grow to six in coming days, he said. With such a small barn, the Rosales operation is truly a mom-and-pop outfit.
“We have a two-person team, my wife and I,” he said. “We don’t have anyone working for us.”
After Rosales leaves for his virtual classroom, Elena stays at Los Alamitos to finish the morning work.
Last year, Rosales had two wins from 27 runners. Tromador was the stable’s second runner of the current Santa Anita meeting, and first win. Eswan Flores rode Tromador, who won by a neck at 16-1.
“It was nice to get a good ride from Eswan,” Rosales said.
Rosales has juggled teaching and training for years. The current structure is likely to continue, though Rosales says it is far from ideal for students or their teacher.
“There is a lack of social interaction, music, and extracurricular activity,” Rosales said. “Hopefully, the vaccine will kick in and we can get back to normal.”