Private Zone could bring Douglas back to the winner’s
circle
Trainer Doug O’Neill watched sprinters Private Zone, Renee’s Titan and
Handsome Mike gallop on the main track Thursday and voiced a general sense of
optimism about his nine Breeders’ Cup entrants.
“We’re always optimistic, but we’ve got some legitimate chances,” O’Neill
said. “We’re alive all over the place. Private Zone is favored in the Sprint and
Goldencents is second choice in the Dirt Mile. I think Private Zone looks pretty
solid.”
Private Zone involves one of the most poignant human interest stories of the
Breeders’ Cup, involving racing manager Rene Douglas and jockey Martin Pedroza.
Richie Silverstein, long time agent for Pedroza, summarized it best.
“Martin and Rene are childhood friends from Panama, went to jockey school
together and have been best friends since,” Silverstein explained. “Before Rene
bought a house, he stayed here with Martin.”
Douglas was paralyzed from the waist down in a 2009 spill at Arlington Park
but remained in racing.
“Rene found Private Zone in Panama and manages a partnership of his owners,”
Silverstein continued. “After he started racing in Panama for Rene’s brother,
Rene sent him to Doug in California last summer and requested that Martin get on
him.
“The horse came with tons of idiosyncrasies that have been overcome. The
horse is doing good. The spacing of his races is good, and he has been working
great. His last work was awesome.
“Martin has never won a Breeders’ Cup race, and he gets two chances, first
with Blueskiesnrainbows in the Marathon. You can’t imagine what winning the
Sprint would mean to Martin. Rene can’t ride anymore and Martin has a chance to
put his best friend in the winner’s circle. It would be heart-filling if he won
this race for Rene.”
Sprint hopeful Sum of the Parts made his first appearance of 2013 on the
Santa Anita track Thursday morning after a Tuesday arrival from his home base in
Kentucky.
With exercise rider Maurice Sanchez up, Sum of the Parts
jogged a mile, visited the starting gate and then galloped 1 1/2 miles.
“I thought things went well this morning,” trainer Tom
Amoss said. “He had a long time getting here Tuesday, so he just walked
yesterday. I didn’t see any ill effects from missing a day.”
Amoss said Sum of the Parts would school in the paddock
Thursday afternoon, gallop Friday morning and walk Saturday morning prior to his
second start in the Sprint.
In the 2012 Sprint, Sum of the Parts got the lead out of
the gate and yielded grudgingly in the latter stages of the six-furlong race to finish
fourth, beaten three lengths by Trinniberg.
“He seems a little brighter this year and acts fresher on
the track,” Amoss said of the now four-year-old. “I see that out here.”
As with 2012, Sum of the Parts enters the Sprint off a
victory in the Phoenix at Keeneland. In 2013, Sum of the Parts has one fewer
start leading up to the Breeders’ Cup than in 2012.
“He had a difficult campaign last year,” Amoss said. “I had
no expectations last year because it was at the end of a long year and I was
surprised he made the lead. This year, he is a fresh, sharp horse. In the
Phoenix, he used his speed to control the race and I would love to see it set up
like that (Saturday). But I understand the Breeders’ Cup horses are a lot
quicker.”
Reneesgotzip got a day off Thursday as her training toward Saturday’s Turf
Sprint winds down, according to trainer Peter Miller.
It wasn’t that the four-year-old daughter of City Zip had earned it through
excellent work. On the contrary, it was because she dumped her rider during
training Wednesday and ran off for a ways.
“She didn’t run off very far, but it still was a bit of a blowout,” the
trainer said with a chuckle.
Miller found some relief when he was reminded by many of California Flag’s
similar incident before winning the 2009 Turf Sprint.
Both Miller and trainer Buff Bradley have the same goal at this point — keep
their fillies happy. Bradley is focused on keeping his homebred Groupie Doll a happy
camper prior to her bid for a repeat victory in the Filly & Mare Sprint.
“She’s spoiled,” said Bradley, who co-owns the five-year-old mare
with his father, Fred, Carl Hurst and Brent Burns. “But then she’s been spoiled
for a very long time.”
On Thursday morning, Groupie Doll jogged back to the wire
under exercise rider Jada Schlenk and then took a left turn at the paddock
runway for a quick tour of the saddling enclosure and walking ring. Upon walking
back to the track, Groupie Doll galloped a little more than a mile, picking up
the pace through the lane.
Bradley gave a thumbs up on the morning’s activity.
“We are all good,” he stated. “She’ll do the same thing
Friday, but not have as strong of a gallop.”
Fellow Filly & Mare Sprint runner Summer Applause galloped Thursday morning,
two days before her career finale for trainer Chad Brown when she tries
sprinting after a dozen route races.
“She’s sharp and she looks good,” Brown remarked. “I’m curious
to see how she does on the cut-back. She just couldn’t possibly be training any
better, so that’s a big plus. But it’s very much an experiment running
seven-eighths. We’ll see what happens. If we get a very strong pace up front,
she could make a late run and be in the picture.”
Dance Card has a first date with jockey Joel Rosario on
Saturday in the Filly & Mare Sprint and her trainer is quite pleased with the match.
“We have Joel as her new rider, which is a plus. Hopefully it all works out
and he can work out a good trip,” conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin said.
With the retired Ramon Dominguez in the irons last year,
the four-year-old gray daughter of Tapit put together an impressive streak of four
straight victories, capped by a Grade 1 score in the Gazelle Handicap, before
chips in her ankles sent her to the sidelines.
“This is a really nice filly who is very, very talented.
Right now she’s doing great,” McLaughlin continued. “She’s had six weeks off since
her last race in the Gallant Bloom and I’m very happy with the way she’s coming
up to this race.”
Dance Card galloped 1 3/8
miles under Rob Massey and then went to the gate and stood Thursday morning.