“It was nothing serious,” Lewis said. “But Father Time is catching up with him.”

Brickyard Ride won 13-of-31 starts, including eight stakes, and banked $925,477 for owner-breeder Alfred A. “Sonny” Pais. His resume includes a trio of graded stakes victories–the 2021 GII San Carlos S. and the GIII Kona Gold S. in both 2022 and 2023.

Most recently, Brickyard Ride finished second to The Chosen Vron (Vronsky) in the California Cup Sprint Jan. 13.

“He was a fun horse. A fast horse that won a lot of races,” Lewis said. “All good things come to an end. It sure was fun while he was here.”

Brickyard Ride last week was sent to a farm in nearby Bradbury where he'll remain for the rest of the year.

“He's going to take the year off and then go to stud somewhere next season,” Lewis said.

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This Tuesday, an 11-race card kicks off at 2 p.m. ET under the picturesque San Gabriel mountains in Arcadia, California–six of which are graded stakes.

To entice the horseplayer, the Classic Meet sports a $1 Pick Six, a 14 percent takeout on both the .50 Early and Late Pick 5, and we will see the return of the $3 All-Turf Pick 3, which was announced during the recent Autumn Meet.

As for the graded lineup, of course the feature is once again the GI Malibu S. for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on dirt.

Trainer Bob Baffert has GSW Speed Boat Beach (Bayern), GSW Fort Bragg (Tapit) and GISP Hejazi (Bernardini) ready to go. The Hall of Famer, who won last year's edition with 'TDN Rising Star' Taiba (Gun Runner), is seeking his sixth win in the Malibu. That would tie fellow Hall member Richard Mandella for most wins all-time in the race.

The 3-year-old fillies take the stage in the GI La Brea S. going seven furlongs. GISP Clearly Unhinged (Into Mischief) looks to be the leading contender. The Michael McCarthy-trainee was most recently sixth at 'The Great Race Place' in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 4.

Baffert, who has won the last two La Breas, and with a record of nine overall, enters GSP Fast and Shiny (Bernardini), while trainer Brad Cox ships in SW Howl (Practical Joke).

Anisette | Benoit

In the GI American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles on turf, GISW Anisette (GB) Awtaad (Ire) is the standout. The Leonard Powell-trainee won the GI Del Mar Oaks and GII San Clemente S. at Del Mar earlier this year. Most recently, Anisette was the runner-up in both the GII Rodeo Drive S. Oct. 7 and GIII Autumn Miss S. Nov. 5, both at Santa Anita.

Alongside the three Grade Is are the same number of Grade IIs, which all carry a purse of $200,000. The GII San Gabriel S. for 3-year-olds and up at nine furlongs on turf includes Easter (Fr). The Phil D'Amato-trainee won his first start for his new barn in the GII Seabiscuit H. at Del Mar Nov. 25. The 5-year-old Australian-bred by Exosphere (Aus) was previously based in New York with trainer Graham Motion.

The GII San Antonio S. is for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles on dirt. Present are Stilleto Boy (Shackleford), winner of this year's GI Santa Anita H.; GSW Newgrange (Violence); MGSW Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride); and GSW Salesman (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Add in South American import Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify), who is a Argentinian multiple Group 1 winner, and this makes for a pretty salty affair.

In what might be the most open battle on the whole card, the GII Mathis Mile S. over the grass for 3-year-olds includes GSP Almendares (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), SW Dandy Man Shines (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and GSP Panic Alarm (Ire) (Kuroshio {Aus}).

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Starting his 2023 season with a dominating score in Sunland's Curribot H. Mar. 5, he ran fourth in a salty rendition of the GII Oaklawn H., and could not overcome early crowding in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup, finishing fifth behind returning foe Defunded (Dialed In) and GISW & G1SW Country Grammar (Tonalist).

Last after the jump and in the rear of the field for the lion's portion of the contest, Senor Buscador was perfectly content to watch it all unfold as Brickyard Ride and Slow Down Andy dueled for the pace control. Off the rail into the leading bend and five wide around the second as runners closed ranks, he was rolling under a full head of steam as he arrived in the lane in fourth but quickly closing the gap. Drawing alongside a leg-weary Brickyard Ride, who was about to be overtaken by Slow Down Andy, the winner continued his relentless grind to eventually prevail by 1 1/4 lengths.

After the race, both rider and trainer–who picked up their first stakes win of the meet here–were thrilled with the effort, and echoed similar sentiments about the horse's propensity to leave the blocks on the slower side.

“I told him [jockey Geovanni Franco] to just let the horse do his thing, don't panic and start riding early,” said Fincher after the race. “He's got one strong kick. He'll start picking them up at the half-mile pole on his own. Wait as long as you can, then push the button. He'll never do anything but fall back out of the gate, so we needed a good set-up.”

Hailing from a very busy family, a half-brother to a Graded stakes winner and two listed winners, Senor Buscador is out of New Mexican icon Rose's Desert, who made her name dominating that circuit. The 10-time winning racemare found similar acclaim as a producer, and has several young offspring in the wings including 2-year-old filly Aye Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}); a yearling Rose A (Hard Spun); and 2023 colt The Hell We Did (Authentic). That dam visited the venerable Into Mischief for 2024. This is the extended family of GSP Shaker Knit as well as a host of successful Argentinian black-type earners.

Run them down Senor! @franco_geo powers to the finish aboard Senor Buscador to win the Grade II San Diego Handicap. pic.twitter.com/OPGONwFORr

— Del Mar Racetrack (@DelMarRacing) July 30, 2023

Saturday, Del Mar
SAN DIEGO H.-GII, $302,000, Del Mar, 7-29, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:42.54, ft.
1–SENOR BUSCADOR, 119, h, 5, by Mineshaft
           1st Dam: Rose's Desert (MSW, $626,035), by Desert God
           2nd Dam: Miss Glen Rose, by Peaks and Valleys
           3rd Dam: Snippet, by Alysheba
O-Peacock Family Holdings LP; B-Joe R Peacock Sr. & Joe R Peacock Jr. (KY); T-Todd W. Fincher; J-Geovanni Franco. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 12-6-0-1, $667,427. *1/2 to Sheriff Brown (Curlin), MSW, $558,681; 1/2 to Our Iris Rose (Ghostzapper), SW, $307,880; 1/2 to Runaway Ghost (Ghostzapper), GSW, $783,509. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Slow Down Andy, 122, c, 4, Nyquist–Edwina E, by Square Eddie. O/B-Reddam Racing, LLC (CA); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $60,000.
3–Brickyard Ride, 120, h, 6, Clubhouse Ride–Brickyard Helen, by Southern Image. O/B-Alfred A. Pais (CA); T-Craig Anthony Lewis. $36,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 1 3/4, HF. Odds: 13.50, 3.90, 14.20.
Also Ran: Defunded, Tripoli, Royal Ship (Brz), Missed the Cut, American Admiral, Tisquantum. Scratched: Piroli.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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On Monday, nearly half a century after the pair first crossed paths, Kruljac saddled one of the handful of horses in his care to finish third behind Baffert's latest Grade I winner at Santa Anita. That was a gratifying sequel to what had happened the previous day, when the star of Kruljac's small team confirmed himself a winning machine that would stand out even in the Baffert barn—whether by talent or charisma or, above all, sheer consistency. Because with The Chosen Vron (Vronsky), it's not just every Cal-bred that needs to be checking its rearview mirror.

The Chosen Vron has now won his last seven straight, all stakes, taking him to 12-for-16 overall and $792,678 in earnings. On Sunday, he finally had a showdown with another Californian fan favorite, Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride), in the Thor's Echo S. His rival, who last month retained the GIII Kona Gold S., may not have shown his best as he faded into third of four; but the fact is that very few state-breds of recent times could have matched The Chosen Vron in his current vein.

“I think it was his best race ever,” Kruljac says. “They went fast, and he was four or five lengths behind, stalking. Then the rider just threw the reins at him couple of times, and he just swallowed them. It was awesome. Just, wow.”

The 5-year-old won by five and a half lengths, and it feels like time to return to open company. He won a couple of graded stakes as a sophomore, beating Monday's big winner Defunded (Dialed In) in one and Laurel River (Into Mischief) in the other. When the latter went on to win the GII Pat O'Brien S. at Del Mar last summer, The Chosen Vron finished only fifth. But that race probably came too soon after what had been his first start in nine months—in which, incidentally, he had only been beaten in a three-way photo over an extended mile of turf. (Sunday's race was over six furlongs of dirt: this is one versatile horse.) And he's unbeaten since.

“He developed a few problems [at three] and we had to turn him out and do a little surgery,” Kruljac explains of the gelding, co-owned with Sondereker Racing, Robert S. Fetkin and Richard Thornburgh. “But he's come back gangbusters. I learned, I think, that if I give him six weeks or more, he seems to relish the extra couple weeks. So, we've changed strategy a little bit, to give him more time between races, and will probably keep him on that line as we go forward. He seems to have come out of the race in fabulous shape and we might have to jump in with open company next time.”

Kruljac bought The Chosen Vron's dam, Tiz Molly (Tiz Wonderful), as a yearling for just $25,000 at the Keeneland September Sale of 2011 and also raced her in partnership.

“She showed lots of ability, won her first two races impressively,” he recalls. “We turned down a pretty sizeable sum for her. Then she hurt herself, and it was a career-ending injury. Three of us four partners stayed in and decided to use her as a broodmare, and it's been a good decision.”

So, too, was her retention (at just $1,200!) when offered for sale after The Chosen Vron was weaned. The mare is now at Legacy Ranch where she has recently delivered a second consecutive filly by Clubhouse Ride.

Vronsky himself died two years ago, and The Chosen Vron is unfortunately not equipped to continue the line having been castrated soon after entering training.

“He would go off behind intermittently,” explains Kruljac. “And we found out that he had a testicle hanging over a ligament in there, and causing him discomfort. Once we took that out, he traveled like a Bentley. Until we figured out what was going on, he would show his stuff, work really great—and then the next time, you might be a little disappointed. Gelding changed him more than any horse I've ever trained. Though I wish we'd left one in there! Anyway, he's been fabulous ever since. Just a great horse to be around in the barn. My boys have done a wonderful job with him.”

Kruljac traces his flair for horses to maternal grandfather Walter Markham, who raised pedigree cattle and Thoroughbreds on his ranch in Carmel Valley—along with nine grandchildren. Markham's trainer was Buster Millerick, who reached the Hall of Fame via the long career of Native Diver.

The Chosen Vron | Benoit Photo

“Buster loved my grandfather because he was an animal man,” Kruljac says. “My grandfather was a purebred Hereford stock breeder. They spoke the same language. Buster was a legend, but he'd run off all his clients, he was so mean. He had this little dog and when the owners came in the shedrow, he'd stick that dog on them!”

Kruljac himself was breeding his first horses by his early 20s.

“I had a little farm in Phoenix, Arizona,” he recalls. “I was just starting to train a few, and had a client who had an Alydar son that didn't make the races. Then I bought a couple of my own mares, and bred them to him. That didn't turn out so well! But I pretty much stayed with it. That's how I entered the game, breeding, which is crazy.”

But we do meanwhile need to ask about that left-field parallel career, as private detective. Kruljac says it wasn't as colorful as it sounds, his principal focus being compensation fraud. But he accepts with a chuckle that he must have been one of the few who ever came to the racetrack and found himself dealing with somewhat straighter people than previously.

“It takes all kinds, I'll tell you,” he acknowledges. “I ran my agency for about eight years. It's all pretty boring, until everything opens up. Mostly we were investigating people that the claims adjusters thought were faking injuries. We'd go out early in the morning and sit a quarter of a mile down the road, and then follow them and gather evidence that showed that they were malingerers.”

There was one memorable liability claim, concerning a couple and their three young boys.

“They'd already had two accidents where they'd be going up the ramp onto the freeway, and slam their brakes on until they get someone to run into them,” Kruljac recalls. “Anyway, we film them going into the doctor's office, all five with neck collars. Out they come, still with neck collars. And they drive off. All of a sudden, they pull into a grammar school. There's a jungle gym, swings and all this stuff, and these kids come running out of the car, one of them throws his neck brace up in the air, and they're jumping eight feet off this thing. We got this all on film.”

All the time, however, Kruljac was maintaining an interest in horses: a little breeding, a little trading, a few in training with a brother. When the latter quit, Kruljac shut down his agency and started training them himself, going full time at Turf Paradise at the age of 38. He has meanwhile accumulated as many as 1,240 winners, including seven individual graded stakes scorers.

These were memorably crowned by Leave Me Alone (Bold Badgett), who shipped over to win the GI Test S. by just under eight lengths in 2005. After she won a valuable sprint at Calder under Kent Desormeaux, his agent rang and implored Kruljac to look at her numbers and think about Saratoga.

Trainer J. Eric Kruljac (right) celebrates with jockey Hector Berrios | Benoit

“And she was training just incredibly, so we decided to take a shot,” Kruljac recalls. “I don't think I saw a filly run that fast until Gamine (Into Mischief) 20 years later. It was really incredible.”

Kruljac had bought her for just $35,000 as a yearling. “I saw her at an auction at an equestrian center outside of Del Mar,” he recalls. “Other than being totally crazy, while they were showing her, she was just incredibly athletic.”

He was originally intending to buy her for himself and bring in a couple of partners, but in the event secured her for a new client at the time, Steven Mitchell.

“And that worked out to be a great experience,” Kruljac says. “We flew in his jet to Saratoga, stayed in this house right across from the entrance. There were eight or nine of us, including his kids. So, the night before the race we tried to get dinner at [a noted Saratoga restaurant]. We went in there, and the guy says, 'Absolutely not. Sorry. We're totally booked.' Even though Mr. Mitchell tried to give him $500! Next day, after the race, we went back to the same place. The owner's boy was holding the saddle towel. This time the guy said, 'Sure, Mr. Mitchell. We'll make room for you.' Then as we're walking to the table, he says, 'And Mr. Mitchell, I will take that $500.'”

As it happens, The Chosen Vron reminds their trainer of Leave Me Alone: another tall and angular chestnut, with a great shoulder. That year, however, she was one of 86 winners from 383 starters for the barn. For Del Mar this summer, in contrast, Kruljac expects to have eight head; with four or five 2-year-olds to come through.

To be fair, the emphasis has meanwhile tilted towards the barn of his son Ian—whom he famously launched, when still his assistant, with a City Zip yearling he'd found for a client at $85,000. This turned out to be none other than Finest City, who won the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint before selling to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.5 million.

“I'm more interested in helping Ian out these days,” Kruljac concedes. “He's up there in Arcadia along with the people that have worked for me over 30 years. At 70, I'm slowing down a notch. I've pretty much made Del Mar my residence, so I've been commuting a lot for the last three or four months.”

Though still enchanted by his working environment, Kruljac recognizes the ongoing difficulties of the industry in his home state.

“And I'm still very concerned, because we've got a long way to go to get it anywhere close to what it was,” he reflects. “With these incredibly beautiful tracks, we've been spoiled. Now, with all the restrictions, the media, the finger-pointing, it's made it tough, for sure. The simulcast money is the only thing keeping our purses at the level that they are. But it appeared to be a really good weekend, as far as attendance and families coming out again, so that was encouraging. For me, anyway, it's heaven on earth.”

Kiss Today Goodbye | Benoit Photo

In the era of the super trainer, then, here is a barn that maintains the old lifeblood of the sport: a multi-generation horseman at the helm, with loyal and experienced help, all patiently devoted to the horses that could hardly warrant the same attention and perseverance in more industrial operations. It has been a labor of love, for instance, to coax Kiss Today Goodbye (Cairo Prince) back to form at the age of six for that third place in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup on Monday.

“Very difficult horse to train,” Kruljac admits. “My crew has done a fabulous job with him. It's taken us a long time to take his negative energy and make him a happy horse. It was worth the five or six months, though, so let's hope he keeps going forward now.”

And whisper it, but with a Breeders' Cup in his backyard this fall, perhaps we might even see the horse test the water this summer.

“We'll play it by ear,” Kruljac says. “See how he's training at that time. If he's as on fire as for the last few races, we might try the [GI] Bing Crosby, which would tell us whether he's good enough to think about that.

“It's been a long time since I've had a really good horse. But I've been blessed for the money I've been able to muster. Even for a couple of Vron's losses, there were things that went wrong in the race; and like I said, maybe I was running him back a little too quickly. But once we gave him the time, worked with him, brought him back slow, just handled him with kid gloves… I feel he's better than ever.

“To have this horse, at this point, I feel so fortunate and privileged. I'm fired up because of Vron, he gives you a little more energy to get up and get at it. So we're just living large right now, and thanking our lucky stars. Hopefully we can just keep this horse running for another year or two, keep him going onward and upward.”

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Making just one start as a 3-year-old, on Dec. 26, the $65,000 Keeneland September buy stumbled early and raced greenly en route to a last-place run. Coming back at this seven-furlong trip Feb. 22, the bay was away much better and ran away to a 4 3/4-length graduation, earning a gaudy 97 Beyer. The John Sadler trainee backed that up with a wire-to-wire allowance/optional claiming success here Apr. 16.

Easily the most accomplished horse in the field is California-bred speedball Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride). A three-time stakes winner last season as a 4-year-old, including a convincing four-length score in the track-and-trip GII San Carlos S., and is undefeated in four starts thus far as a 5-year-old, racking up frontrunning victories in the California-bred California Cup Sprint S., Tiznow S. and Sensational Star S. and open GIII Kona Gold S. last out here Apr. 30.

Gary Barber's Get Her Number (Dialed In), a Grade I winner over this track, will look to find himself getting back on dirt. Capturing the GI American Pharoah S. here as a juvenile, the $45,000 OBS April pickup failed to make a dent in four starts as a 3-year-old before scoring in a local allowance/optional claimer sprinting on the turf Mar. 12. He was unable to build on that when finishing 13th of 14 last out in the GIII San Francisco Mile S. on the Golden Gate lawn Apr. 30.

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On Saturday, Juan Hernandez had the mount on Brickyard Ride for trainer Craig Lewis in the Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint for 4-year-olds and up, one of five Cal-bred stakes on Cal Cup Day.  With Hernandez putting Brickyard Ride's speed to good use from post position three in the field of eight, they showed the way up the backstretch and drew away in upper stretch to a 1 3/4-length win in 1:09.54 for six furlongs. It was Hernandez's second win of the day. Off as the favorite, Brickyard Ride paid $5.40, $3.80 and $2.60.

“Craig told me to just let him run,” said Hernandez speaking to the Santa Anita publicity team. “He broke really sharp and he was ready today. Once I was on the lead that was it, I just let him run. I felt the pace was a little fast, but that is fine for a horse like him.”

Monday's holiday card featured the Grade 3 Astra Stakes with Hernandez riding the French-bred Neige Blanche for trainer Leonard Powell. The race was transferred from the hillside turf course to a flat start on the backstretch. Sent off as the heavy favorite in the field of five, Neige Blanche found herself bottled up on the rail with her four rivals in front of her. Hernandez called on Neige Blanche once a seam opened up  turning for home and overtook Disappearing Act with Flavien Prat in the stretch to win the one and one-half mile marathon in 2:32.27. She paid $2.60 to win. 

“The trip worked out pretty good for her because she likes to run like that,” said Hernandez, who has now ridden Neige Blanche in her last seven races, winning four of them. “I put a lot of trust in her and in Leonard to have her ready. I felt like I had a lot of horse. We were waiting for something to open up. She's a nice filly, she was ready today.”

Weekly statistics for Hernandez were 17-5-2-3 and total purse earnings of $338,560. He currently is in third place in the Santa Anita jockey standings with 13 win and just over $1 million in purse earnings.

Hernandez outpolled fellow riders Armando Ayuso with a 40 percent win rate, Arnaldo Bocachica also with a 40 percent win rate, Flavien Prat who was leading jockey with total and stakes purse earnings, and Luis Saez with a stakes win at Gulfstream Park.

The post Juan Hernandez Voted Jockey Of The Week After Santa Anita Stakes Double appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Although a well-meant Letsgetlucky applied serious pressure into and around the far turn, Brickyard Ride got the separation he needed leaving the quarter pole and he enjoyed a three length advantage a furlong from home in a dominant performance.

“Craig told me to just let him run,” said Hernandez, who picked up his second win on the day. “He broke really sharp and he was ready today. I could tell he came to run because at the (break) he was trying to get the lead. Once I was on the lead that was it, I just let him run. I felt the pace was a little fast, but that is fine for a horse like him.”

The defending champ in the Cal Cup Sprint, Brickyard Ride, a 5-year-old chestnut horse by Clubhouse Ride, notched his fourth stakes victory and ninth overall from 19 starts. Off as the 8-5 favorite in a field of eight older horses bred or sired in California, Brickyard Ride paid $5.40, $3.80 and $2.60.

“I thought he ran great off the layoff,” said Lewis. “He's an extremely talented horse. He's very fast and I'm very happy with the result. We hope we're on to bigger and better things…Clubhouse Ride is really making a name for himself as a stud in California and we just hope there's some more coming. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of some Clubhouse Ride 2-year-olds. This may be a lot to ask for, but we hope there's another Brickyard Ride in there.”

Out of the Southern Image mare Brickyard Helen, Brickyard Ride banked $90,000 on the day, increasing his earnings to $560,977.

Mid-pack early, Positivity finished well to be second, 1 ¾ lengths better than Letsgetlucky. Off at 4-1 with Flavien Prat, Positivity paid $4.40 and $3.00.

The second choice at 5-2 with Drayden Van Dyke, Letsgetlucky, in a big effort, finished third by three quarters of length over Principe Carlo and paid $2.80 to show.

Fractions on the race were 21.71, 44.15 and 56.58.

The Don Valpredo Cal Cup Sprint was carded as race nine and was the fourth of five stakes for California-bred of sired horses on a 10-race Cal Cup day program.

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“I loved him because even as an early 2-year-old he looked like a 3-year-old,” Cosato said this morning of the horse that produced a 1 ¾-length victory in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. “So we were in right away, and some other partners eventually came in as well.”

Cosato did the naming honors, coming up with the surname of Manu Ginobili, the native of Argentina who was a four-time NBA champion while starring with the San Antonio Spurs.

Unlike his namesake, Ginobili the horse wasn't a consistent winner. He came into the Pat O'Brien with two wins from 12 lifetime starts, a maiden score here in August of 2019 and a mile allowance tally on July 17, the second day of the current meeting, by an impressive  9 ¾ lengths.

“The Munnings line is kind of curious,” Cosato said. “He throws a variety (of runners); they tend to be good on the turf but that's not true for all of them.”

So finding the right surface and distance took some doing. But input from jockey Joe Bravo following a fourth-place finish in a 6 ½-furlong race at Santa Anita on June 19 led to a 9¾-length victory in a mile event here on July 17 that generated thoughts of bigger things.

“Did the mile wake him up? Possibly, but I think adding blinkers and a couple other things contributed too,” Cosato said.

Following the July 17 race, the partnership was ready for a step up to stakes, but not unified on just which one and where. The TVG Pacific Classic, the Charles Town Classic, and the Pat O'Brien were discussed before settling on the latter, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on November 6.

With Bravo committed to riding Flagstaff for trainer John Sadler, jockey Drayden Van Dyke got the call on Ginobili and executed a best-case scenario, positioning outside front-runner Brickyard Ride for the first half-mile, opening up 3 ½-lengths at the top of the stretch and holding on nicely from there.

Craig Lewis, trainer of Brickyard Ride, was disappointed that the stall gate, which should have been shut, was left open and his horse bolted through before the start. Brickyard Ride was reined in and deemed still worthy to race, but the premature exertion probably contributed to his tiring after a half-mile and finishing last.

“These are things we don't have any control over and you wish wouldn't happen,” Lewis said.

Ginobili reportedly came out of the race in fine fettle as did runner-up and 2-1 favorite C Z Rocket and third-place Flagstaff.

“The horse ran great, I have no fault with the horse or the rider,” said Peter Miller, trainer of C Z Rocket.  “Hats off to the winner.

“But I'd like to have seen what they could have done on a (different) racetrack. Hopefully, we get that for the Sprint Championship (Stakes) at Santa Anita and for the Breeders' Cup. More importantly for the Breeders' Cup.”

Sadler on Flagstaff: “We thought he ran a good race. He didn't win but he ran a good race. Props to the winner, who ran a great race. (Flagstaff) might run again at Santa Anita and then come back for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.”

The post Ginobli Win In Pat O’Brien A Slam Dank For Ownership Group appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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How will the track be playing? Will it favor speed horses or come-from-behind types? Because one trainer's “too fast” is another's “not fast enough.”

Case in point, Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes, the seven-furlong follow-up to the Grade 1, $300,000 six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes four weeks ago in Del Mar's handicap division sprint graded event series.

The Crosby victory having assured a spot in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint here on Nov. 6, winner Dr. Schivel is not entered in the O'Brien. But three of the next four Crosby finishers are set to run, fully aware that the O'Brien is a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fan Dirt Mile on the same day.

And for two of them – defending race champion C Z Rocket trained by Peter Miller and California-bred speedster Brickyard Ride trained by Craig Lewis – how the track plays on Saturday is of foremost concern.

In the immediate aftermath of the Crosby, in which C Z Rocket closed from fifth to third in the stretch, nearly making up a four-length deficit to lose only by a neck, Miller said he'd pass on the O'Brien. Which, the trainer said this morning, could still happen.

“We're still not 100 percent sure,” said Miller, who has consistently expressed concerns over what he considers a speed-favoring track throughout the meeting. “We're going to keep an eye on the track and see how it's playing. The post (No. 9) is good. I just don't want to run him if it's not a fair track. I'm just trying to be fair to the horse, and the public, that's all.”

Claimed for $40,000 in April of 2020, the O'Brien win, followed by a victory in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint were keys to a nine-race campaign in 2020 that produced $651,901 in earnings. The seven-year-old gelded son of City Zip has added $536,000 from four 2021 starts for career earnings of more than $1.4 million.

Brickyard Ride overcame a bobble at the break to go straight to the lead in the Bing Crosby through early fractions of :21.80 and :44.60 on a track that the Daily Racing Form analysts rated as favoring closers, before being passed by four horses in the stretch.

The 4-year-old son of Clubhouse Ride, an Alfred Pais homebred, has career earnings of $470,477. Of that, $300,200 has been accumulated via three wins in six starts this year, highlighted by a victory in the Grade II San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita in March.

“I'd like to see a little better start and a little more glib track (than the Crosby), but you can't control that,” Lewis said of his O'Brien hopes. “Certain horses like it certain ways and he (Brickyard Ride) wants to go the speed route. We'd like a quick track, that's the bottom line.

“Other than that, he's good to go. We just need things to go our way, which is asking for a lot. There's a lot of nice horses in a very competitive race.”

The field for the Pat O'Brien from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Ginobili (Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1); Howbeit (Kyle Frey, 6-1); Surfing Star (apprentice Jessica Pyfer, 30-1); Mo Mosa (Ramon Vasquez, 10-1); Eight Rings (Abel Cedillo, 6-1); Classier (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1); Brickyard Ride (Juan Hernandez, 8-1); Flagstaff (Joe Bravo, 3-1); C Z Rocket (Peter Miller, 5-2), and California Street (Wayne Barnett, 30-1).

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Given a slight nod on the morning line at 5-2 is C Z Rocket (City Zip). Claimed for $40,000 last spring at Oaklawn by Peter Miller, the gelding has been a new horse since, winning seven of nine races while finishing second in the other two. That streak includes a score in last summer's GII Pat O'Brien S. over this oval. The 7-year-old most recently was second when stretching out in the GIII Steve Sexton Mile S. May 31 at Lone Star.

California-bred Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride) rates a big chances breaking from the outermost stall. Earning a shot at open company after a convincing score in the California Cup Sprint S. Jan. 16 at Santa Anita, the Alfred Pais homebred didn't disappoint, cruising to an impressive four-length victory despite setting a scorching pace in the GII San Carlos S. Mar. 6. Well-beaten in his next two, he rebounded with a 4 3/4-length success in the Cal-bred Thor's Echo S. last out June 12.

Dr. Schivel (Violence) takes on older horses in just his fifth career start. Taking three tries to break his maiden, he came right back to annex the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity for Luis Mendez, but went unseen for over nine months after that before eventually returning with a narrow allowance/optional claiming tally for new trainer Mark Glatt June 18 at Santa Anita.

Defending Bing Crosby champion Collusion Illusion (Twirling Candy) makes his 4-year-old debut here. Runner-up in the GII Santa Anita Championship S. after his local heroics, he was 12th in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint before rebounding some to be third in the GI Runhappy Malibu S.

Other contenders include Vertical Threat (Tapiture), last seen romping by 7 1/2 lengths with a 102 Beyer in last November's Steel Valley Sprint S. at Mahoning Valley, Quick Tempo (Tapizar), who did his name justice when setting splits of :21.44 and :43.35 before setting for second in the Iowa Sprint S. at Prairie Meadows July 3, and Eight Rings (Empire Maker), who's winless in four starts since capturing the GI American Pharoah S. as a juvenile but shows a sharp worktab for Bob Baffert that includes a five-furlong bullet in :58 3/5 (1/91) July 10 in Arcadia.

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