El Camino Real Derby | Horse Racing Free Tips

McCarthy: ‘A Lot Of Options’ For Late-Running El Camino Real Derby Winner Rombauer

It wasn't a breathtaking last-to-first stretch run ala Silky Sullivan from days of yore, or even akin to that of Zenyatta from a more recent vintage, but Rombauer's scintillating triumph in Saturday's El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., certainly stirred memories of those fairytale finishes.

The Twirling Candy colt, owned and bred in Kentucky by John and Diane Fradkin, wasn't beating a Breeders' Cup caliber field, but still stamped himself as a 3-year-old with potential at the classic mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby with his stirring victory on the synthetic Tapeta surface.

Making his 3-year-old debut, Rombauer closed from 11 ½ lengths behind at the half-mile pole in the nine-furlong El Camino Real to get up by a neck as the 6-5 favorite under Kyle Frey, going four wide into the stretch to boot.

Rombauer had shown a penchant for making up ground in each of his four previous races, always closer at the finish than he was at the head of the stretch, but he outdid himself winning the El Camino Real Derby, which earned him 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and an all-expenses paid berth to the Preakness Stakes on May 15.

“The horse is still up in San Francisco,” trainer Michael McCarthy said from his Santa Anita headquarters early Sunday morning. “We'll kind of give him a few days to get his feet underneath him and formulate a game plan the next week or two. There are a lot of options out there right now; they're all in play.”

McCarthy did have some reservations with Rombauer's chance of victory when he was still nine lengths behind entering the stretch.

“He was a little farther back than I would have liked,” McCarthy opined, “but I did not want to get hung wide into the first turn and have him run a mile and quarter in February instead of a mile and an eighth.

“The plan was always to try and save ground into the first turn, we did that and may have sacrificed a few lengths in doing so, but the horse seemed to find his stride coming through the lane.

“It was good enough to get up. I knew a mile and an eighth would not be an issue with him.”

Based at Santa Anita with a plethora of other Triple Crown hopefuls that include Life Is Good, Freedom Fighter, Medina Spirit and Concert Tour for Bob Baffert; Dream Shake for Peter Eurton; Hot Rod Charlie and The Great One for Doug O'Neill; and Roman Centurian for Simon Callaghan, Rombauer did not surprise McCarthy, who won the El Camino Real Derby in 2018 with the filly Paved.

Should Rombauer make it to the Kentucky Derby, it would be a first for McCarthy, who experienced racing's most famous race multiple times while an assistant with Todd Pletcher, but never with a horse he trained.

McCarthy has more to look forward to these days than a trek down the Triple Crown trail. The native of Youngstown, Ohio, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Feb. 1, has Independence Hall ticketed for the G1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6, multiple graded stakes winner Smooth Like Strait on course for the G1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile the same day and Moraz likely for the G3 Santa Ysabel Stakes the next day, March 7.

A diligent and fastidious horseman, McCarthy resides in Altadena, in close proximity to Arcadia, home of Santa Anita. He is just 17 minutes and nine miles from the historic track as the crow flies.

As to Rombauer having a running style similar to the likes of Silky Sullivan and Zenyatta, a realistic McCarthy kept things in perspective.

“I'd be happy if I could be half as good as either of those,” he said.

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Rombauer Wears Down Javanica For Hard-Fought El Camino Real Derby Win

Rombauer made his sophomore seasonal debut a winning one in the feature race at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., on Saturday, the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles. With the victory, Rombauer earned 10 Kentucky Derby points and an all-expenses paid, free berth into the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, on Saturday, May 15. Jockey Kyle Frey guided the son of Twirling Candy to victory for trainer Michael McCarthy.

Sent off as the 6-5 favorite in the field of eight, Rombauer sat last for the first three quarters of a mile before making an outside move on the far turn. Swinging for home while still in the clear, Rombauer quickly picked off six rivals in midstretch before digging down deep to collar runner-up finisher Javanica in the final 50 yards.

Javanica, a filly racing against boys for Godolphin, finished a neck off of Rombauer at the finish. 99-1 shot Govenor's Party completed the trifecta and It's My House, who set the pace before fading in the final furlong, held on for fourth place. Waspirant, Petruchio, Tesoro and Play Chicken completed the order of finish. Rombauer covered nine furlongs on Tapeta in 1:51.64 seconds.

With the El Camino Real Derby victory in the bag, Rombauer improved his overall record to two wins and one second-place finish from five lifetime starts, with career earnings of $210,500. Rombauer is a homebred colt bred by owners John and Diane Fradkin. McCarthy picked up his second El Camino Real Derby victory with the score, having finished first with Paved in 2018.

This is the second El Camino Real Derby win for Jockey Kyle Frey, who won the race in 2017 aboard Zakaroff.

Live racing at Golden Gate Fields resumes Sunday afternoon, with first post set at 12:45 PM. PT.

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest: First 50-Point Derby Prep Held At Fair Grounds

The Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes headlines a six-stakes card billed as Louisiana Derby Preview Day at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Saturday and will offer a total of 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers with 50 points going to the winner. The $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes is also part of the card and will have 50 points to the winner up for grabs toward the Longines Kentucky Oaks.

The thirteen-race Fair Grounds card will air on TVG. In addition to racing from Fair Grounds and Santa Anita, TVG will be featuring racing from Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

Live racing from Aqueduct Racetrack, Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay Downs will also comprise Saturday's broadcast of America's Day at the Races, the national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will air from 2:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET on FS2, including four graded stakes from Fair Grounds, highlighted by the Risen Star.

Due to winter weather expected in Hot Springs, Oaklawn canceled its extended Presidents' Day weekend and is rescheduling the three graded stakes and one listed stakes. The Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes, Grade 3 Razorback Handicap, and Grade 3 Southwest Stakes will now be run Saturday, Feb. 20, and the $150,000 Dixie Belle Stakes and $150,000 Downthedustyroad Stakes will be run Sunday, Feb. 21.

Saturday, Feb. 13

2:34 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Leinster looms as a solid favorite in Saturday's Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint on the strength of a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland last November. The Rusty Arnold trainee is set to make his 2021 debut in the five-furlong turf sprint for 4-year-olds and up. Leinster, a 6-year-old son of Majestic Warrior, finished a length behind victorious Glass Slippers and a half-length behind runner-up Wet Your Whistle in the 5 ½-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in his 2020 finale.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP021321USA6-EQB.html

3:23 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

With few remaining gaps on Hello Beautiful's resume, trainer Brittany Russell will seek to achieve a significant milestone for both herself and her stable star when they go up against seven rivals in Saturday's Barbara Fritchie. A graded win would fill an important blank on an otherwise stellar ledger for Hello Beautiful, a Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad that has won five career stakes and takes a three-race win streak into the richest and most prestigious event of the winter meet. Sporting a perfect 7-0 record over Laurel's main track, Hello Beautiful is three-for-four at seven furlongs including wins in the Maryland Million Nursery and Safely Kept last fall to cap her sophomore campaign.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL021321USA7-EQB.html

3:53 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 General George Stakes at Laurel Park on TVG

Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill, exiting a pair of disappointing efforts off a career-best performance, trades the South Florida sunshine for Maryland's winter chill as he attempts to regain his winning form in the General George. Majestic Dunhill has placed in three stakes since, including the 2019 Polynesian at Laurel, and beat Share the Ride by a head to capture the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Stakes in the mud on Halloween at Belmont Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/LRL021321USA8-EQB.html

5:16 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

Multiple graded-stakes winner Mischevious Alex is expected to be a short-priced favorite to capture Saturday's Gulfstream Park Sprint. Mischevious Alex, who is owned by Cash is King LLC and LC Racing LLC, joined trainer Saffie Joseph's stable for his 2021 campaign after a productive 3-year-old season that included victories in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Making his first start since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes last August at Saratoga, the son of Into Mischief made a sweeping move into the stretch and drew off to win by 3 ¾ lengths in a Jan. 10 optional claiming allowance race.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP021321USA11-EQB.html

5:44 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Godolphin's unbeaten homebred Maxfield, who was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2019 and the Kentucky Derby last year, starts as a prohibitive favorite in the Mineshaft at 1 1/16 miles, which should serve as a perfect launching pad for what his connections hope will finally be a season-long campaign. Trainer Brendan Walsh has had to endure some obvious disappointments with Maxfield as he's started just four times in what is now his third season of racing. The son of Street Sense captured the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity in 2019 but missed the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a minor foot injury and then got derailed off the Derby Trail last year when he came out of a June workout with a condylar fracture of his right front cannon bone.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA10-EQB.html

6:16 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Trainer Brad Cox is hoping a return to Cajun Country will inspire a return to form for Factor This, who figures to start as a solid favorite when he looks to defend his title in Saturday's Fair Grounds Stakes over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course. Factor This started his rise to national prominence in last year's Fair Grounds for Cox, as he set the pace and posted a surprise 8-1 win. He used that score as a springboard to another local tally in the meet's turf highlight, the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial, then followed that up with wins in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes and then the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup at Ellis Park.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA11-EQB.html

6:47 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

The path to the Kentucky Oaks begins in earnest Saturday at Fair Grounds when Travel Column starts as what figures to be a strong favorite in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Travel Column announced her presence in the Grade 2 Golden Rod when she was sandwiched at the start, raced last-of-9 early, then got caught in traffic entering the far turn. She couldn't get out until midstretch, then hit another gear in an instant and won going away.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA12-EQB.html

7:18 p.m.—$400,000 Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on FS2 and TVG

Trainer Todd Fincher rolls into town with the undefeated Senor Buscador, who rates as an exciting newcomer in a sterling renewal of Saturday's Risen Star. Senor Buscador went from an unraced maiden in early November to a wise guy Kentucky Derby contender a little more than six weeks later, as he parlayed a 5 ½-furlong maiden win at Remington November 6 into a 5 ¾-length win in the Springboard Mile there Dec. 18. Among his chief contenders figures to be Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon, who led every step of the way in the Grade 3 Lecomte on the Jan. 16 and has shown plenty of versatility in his career as well.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/FG021321USA13-EQB.html

7:20 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

A longshot winner of the opening day Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, trainer Eoin Harty's Fair Maiden will seek to validate that victory as she heads a solid field of 12 older fillies and mares going seven furlongs in Saturday's Santa Monica Stakes. Dismissed at 20-1 in the La Brea, Fair Maiden rallied for an emphatic 2 ¼ length win, as a pair of Bob Baffert fillies, Golden Principal and Merneith, ran second and third. She will have to again contend with those two plus yet another Baffert runner, Qahira, who will be making her first Grade 1 appearance on Saturday.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA021321USA8-EQB.html

Sunday, Feb. 14

6:30 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Sweet Life Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

An impressive winner of her U.S. debut going six furlongs on turf on January 2, trainer Phil D'Amato's Majestic Steps (IRE) figures tough right back among a competitive field of 12 sophomore fillies going the same distance out of Santa Anita's turf chute in the Sweet Life Stakes. D'Amato will also be represented by another Irish-bred in the Sweet Life, Going Global (IRE), who has been idle since defeating 13 rivals in open company going seven furlongs on synthetic Nov. 11 in Ireland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA021421USA7-EQB.html

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Fair Grounds, Golden Gate Derby Preps Highlight TVG’s Weekend Coverage

TVG's Gabby Gaudet will be live onsite at Fair Grounds this Saturday with Kentucky Derby points on the line as Midnight Bourbon, winner of the Lecomte Stakes (G3), faces a field of 12 rivals in the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) on TVG.

The thirteen-race card which will feature six stakes races, four of which are graded. The main event is the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes (G2) which will offer a coveted 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers. The card will also feature a prep race for the Kentucky Oaks (G1), the $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) for sophomore fillies. The race has attracted a field of nine including Clairiere, a homebred daughter of Curlin for Stonestreet Stable. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the bay filly will have Joe Talamo in the irons.

There will be more Kentucky Derby points on the line at Golden Gate Fields with the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby and TVG's Joaquin Jaime will be broadcasting live from the track. The race will offer 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby points to the top four finishers and has drawn a field of nine including the royally-bred Waspirant for trainer John Shirreffs. A son of Union Rags, he is out of Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) champion Life is Sweet and will be trying to earn his first stakes victory.

The graded stakes action will continue at Santa Anita and Todd Schrupp, Christina Blacker and Britney Eurton will be anchored in Arcadia, California with exclusive interviews, selections and analysis. The featured event is the $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes (G2), a seven-furlong contest for fillies and mares. The race has drawn a full field of twelve including the defending winner, Hard Not to Love for trainer John Shirreffs. She will face off against eleven rivals including three contenders for trainer Bob Baffert – Merneith, Qahira and Golden Principal.

In addition to racing from Fair Grounds and Santa Anita, TVG will be featuring racing from Tampa Bay Downs, Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

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