San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Rombauer wins El Camino Real, gains Derby cred
Coming off of respectable performances in two Grade 1 events, 65 favorite Rombauer was the unmistakable class of the field in the $101,350 El Camino Real Derby on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.
But even with his comefromfarbehind style, Rombauer appeared to be up against it for much of the 11⁄8mile race. Then his class kicked in, and Rombauer surged down the stretch and passed the filly Javanica in the final strides to win by a neck.
“I was a little concerned how far back he was and coming into the far turn I thought we had an awful lot to do,” said trainer Michael McCarthy, who watched the race on television from Santa Anita. “But coming to the threeeighths pole he started leveling off and then he was barreling down. I thought it would be close, and he was just classy enough to get his head down at the wire.”
It’s My House, a 321 longshot, set a solid pace (24 seconds, 47.81 and 1:12.20) coming off of two sprints and held a 2length lead at the top of the stretch. But he began to tire and Javanica continued a steady run from fifth place to take the lead inside the eighth pole.
Meanwhile, Rombauer ran in last place in the field of eight around the first turn and was 111⁄2 lengths from the lead down the backstretch. Jockey Kyle Frey was able to move him to the rail soon after the start but he was forced to move around horses midway on the second turn and was fourwide turning into the stretch while still 9 lengths behind.
“My biggest goal was to save ground and come at the end, but that didn’t work all the way,” Frey said. “I was pretty confident I had the horse to get there and as soon as we straightened out I knew I would get there.”
Javanica finished 4 lengths ahead of thirdplace Govenor’s Party, the 1191 longest shot in the race, and It’s My Party held on for fourth. Rombauer used an excellent final quartermile of 37.64 seconds to finish in 1:51.64.
He began his career winning one of two turf milers at Del Mar, then switched to dirt and finished second in the American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita and fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. The El Camino Real Derby on the Tapeta synthetic surface was Rombauer’s first start as a 3yearold and earned him 10 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby and an automatic berth in the Preakness.
“This race wasn’t the easiest of comeback races even with his fun style,” McCarthy said. “If you’ve got a horse that acts like distance is not an issue, you have options, but we’ll concentrate on dirt for right now.”