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Maiden Winner Call Me Jamal Bringing Veteran Trainer Puhich To Southwest Stakes

Recent Oaklawn maiden special weights graduate Call Me Jamal is pointing for Oaklawn's $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 29, the gelding's trainer Mike Puhich said Friday morning.

Owned by prominent Pacific Northwest heart surgeon Mark Dedomenico, Call Me Jamal was a front-running winner Dec. 18 under Geovanni Franco. In the 1 1/16-mile race, Call Me Jamal surrendered the lead in deep stretch before battling back to win by a head. It was his third career start and first around two turns.

“If he's as good in two weeks as he is today, he's definitely going,” Puhich said, referring to the Southwest. “He's ready.”

A chestnut son of the late Malibu Moon, Call Me Jamal is named after Seattle Seahawks All-Pro safety Jamal Adams.

The Southwest is Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby points races. The series began with the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 1.

Other locally based horses pointing for the Southwest include Dash Attack for trainer Kenny McPeek, Barber Road (John Ortiz), Ben Diesel (Dallas Stewart) and Osbourne (Ron Moquett).

Dash Attack, Barber Road and Ben Diesel finished 1-2-7, respectively, in the 1-mile Southwest. Osbourne finished second in the $400,000 Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 17 at Remington Park in his last start.

All four horses recorded workouts over a fast track Friday morning. Dash Attack (:49.80), Ben Diesel (:49) and Osbourne (:49.20) went a half-mile. Barber Road (1:03.60) went 5 furlongs.

Smarty Jones third-place finisher Ignitis is under consideration for the Southwest, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.

Like the Smarty Jones, the Southwest will offer 17 points to the top four finishes (10-4-2-1) toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Post positions for the Southwest will be drawn Jan. 24.

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Workmates Smile Happy, Tiz The Bomb Both Aimed At Holy Bull

Lucky Seven Stable's Smile Happy and Phoenix Thoroughbreds LTD's Tiz the Bomb breezed sharply in company at Gulfstream Park Saturday morning for a likely clash Feb. 5 in the $200,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 5.

Smile Happy, the undefeated winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), and Tiz the Bomb, a graded-stakes winner who finished second the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) last time out, were timed in 46.32 seconds, the third fastest clockings of 83 workouts recorded at the distance.

“It was a nice maintenance work. They went a little quicker than I wanted them to. I gave them instructions to go in about 48,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “But it's okay. They're doing good.”

The breeze was the fourth in a series of workouts at Gulfstream for the workmates.

“You need a fast horse to go with a fast horse,” McPeek said. “You can't work a fast horse with a slow horse.”

While Smile Happy and Tiz the Bomb have teamed in their workouts, they may well become rivals in the Holy Bull, the first graded-stakes for 3-year-olds on the Road to the Curlin Florida Derby (G1).

“I may have to run them against each other in the Holy Bull to get the year started,” McPeek said. “At this point, I'm planning to run both.”

Smile Happy, a son of Runhappy, has won both of his career starts in going-away style, closing from far back to break his maiden at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 29 at Keeneland before rallying from mid-pack to capture the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club by 3 ¼ length at Churchill Downs Nov. 27.

Tiz the Bomb broke his maiden on dirt by 14 ½ lengths in a mile race at Ellis Park in his second career start July 2 before going on to win the Kentucky Downs Juvenile and Bourbon (G2) at Keeneland on turf. The son of Hit It A Bomb concluded his 2021 season with a late-surging second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

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Straight Up G Could Try Derby Trail After Cal Cup Derby

A lights-out winner of his last two starts, Jungle Racing LLC's homebred Straight Up G appears a standout versus five sophomores going a mile and one sixteenth in Saturday's $200,000 California Cup Derby at Santa Anita.

One of five California Cup Day races on a 10-race program, the Cal Cup Derby will be center stage as Straight Up G and his rivals attempt to follow in the footsteps of the Art Sherman-trained California Chrome, who used the 2014 Cal Cup Derby as a springboard to glory in the Santa Anita and Kentucky Derbies as well as the 2014 Preakness Stakes.

Like California Chrome, the Richard Baltas-trained Straight Up G, a bay colt by red hot sire Straight Fire, out of the Sky Mesa mare Gidget Girl, comes off a big win versus statebreds in the one mile King Glorious Stakes run at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12.

“He's doing everything really easily,” said Baltas on Friday morning. “Last time, he handled the two turns with no problem. He's still growing, he big, he's good looking and he's got a good mind. Hopefully he can get this done tomorrow and then maybe we can tackle open company. He's got size, he's got length. The other day, he went five eighths, I got him in 59 and four (fifths), they gave him a minute and one and he galloped out (six furlongs) in 1:13 and one. He did that all on his own, he was by himself.

“I think he wants to go farther. I really don't think he's a sprinter. He's got a lot of natural speed and he looks like a good, solid route horse. The sire's had nothing but runners, so we'll see how far this horse can go.”

Owned and bred by sports talk icon Jim Rome and his wife Janet's Jungle Racing, Straight Up G debuted as an even money favorite going 5 ½ furlongs here on Oct. 9, but finished a disappointing fourth. Subsequently off at 4-5 in a six furlong maiden special versus Cal-breds on Nov. 21 at Del Mar, he aired by 5 ¼ lengths, earning a lofty 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

Off at 2-1 in the King Glorious, he led throughout in a thoroughly dominant performance, winning by 3 ½ lengths over Finneus, who he will again face on Saturday while earning a 75 Beyer.

With Ricky Gonzalez back to ride for a third consecutive time, Straight Up G appears headed for the deep waters of the Kentucky Derby Trail should he replicate his performance in the King Glorious on Saturday.

Like California Chrome, Straight Up G has to be considered a bit “light” in terms of his maternal pedigree, as his first dam, the Sky Mesa mare Gidget Girl, who although she has produced a talented half sister to Straight Up G, the Baltas-trained Gidgetta (three wins from 11 starts, earnings of $154,309) was unraced and his second dam, Rome's Brazilian-bred Surfer Girl, finished her career 11-1-5-1, with her lone win coming in her native Brazil.

As for his sire, Straight Fire, he was a highly regarded juvenile who sold for $250,000 as a yearling and finished second as the 4-5 favorite in the 2016 Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. Subsequently third in Santa Anita's G1 FrontRunner Stakes, he retired with one win from four starts and earnings of $146,400.

With the Cal Cup Derby carded early as race three on Saturday, Straight Up G will hope to issue an emphatic keynote speech on a day dedicated to California-breds. Drawn in post position four and installed as the 4-5 morning line favorite by Line Maker Jon White, Straight Up G will no doubt have the attention of all those eyeing the Derby Trail.

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God Of Love Will Try To Transfer Tapeta Form To Dirt In Withers

Canadian-bred graded stakes-winner God of Love will look to transfer his good form from Tapeta to dirt when he ships to Aqueduct Racetrack for the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on Feb. 5.

The nine-furlong test for 3-year-olds is the next local prep on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, awarding the top-four finishers 10-4-2-1 qualifying points toward the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs.

Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Gary Barber's God of Love, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, is already a stakes winner over turf and Tapeta in only four starts. Two starts after capturing the Cup and Saucer in October on the Woodbine turf, the chestnut colt provided his young sire Cupid with a first graded stakes winner when taking the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Grey on Nov. 28 on the Woodbine Tapeta.

“He's a pretty good horse. If he can have the same type of form on dirt that he does on the synthetic, he'll be a force. In his last race, he ran a 4.5 Thorograph number, which puts you right there,” Casse said.

One start prior to the Grey, God of Love finished a troubled fifth in the nine-furlong Coronation Futurity on the Woodbine Tapeta after having to steady several times.

“He was the favorite in his start before the Grey and I awarded him worst trip of the year of any horse I ran last year,” Casse said. “It was a terrible, terrible trip. He checked about three or four times.”

God of Love joined Casse's winter division at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, where he has worked three times since the Grey. The Withers will be God of Love's first race outside of his native Canada.

“I think he'll end up being champion 2-year-old in Canada. The reason I sent him to Toronto was because he was a Canadian-bred,” Casse said.

Bred in Ontario by William D. Graham, God of Love is out of the Three Wonders mare No Wonder, a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Weemissfrankie, who also produced Canadian-bred stakes-winner Muskoka Wonder.

God of Love was a $100,000 purchase at the OBS March Sale, where he was consigned by Golden Thoroughbreds Training and Sales.

Other probable candidates for the Withers include Courvoisier, Smarten Up and Cooke Creek – the top-three finishers of the Jerome – as well as January 2 maiden winner Constitutionlawyer.

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