Lava Man turns 20, Jetovator peaking for stakes debut; Surging Baltas focused on ‘The Big Picture’
ARCADIA, Calif.—Baffert’s KY Derby hopeful, Life Is Good, out of contention with injury
After Santa Anita sent out a report that Life Is Good had a good pre-Santa Anita Derby prep Saturday morning, it was reported in on social media that Baffert’s Kentucky Derby Hopeful is off the Triple Crown Trail.
At the 9 a.m. break, the undefeated Into Mischief Colt went six furlongs under jockey Juan Ochoa in a bullet 1:11.40, the fastest of only six works at the distance, but a full two seconds quicker than the next-fastest time of 1:13.40.
At the time of the workout Life Is Good drifted out. “Management turned the screen on for us today, but I don’t think that’s what caused him to drift out,” trainer Bob Baffert said, alluding to the bright LED display board in deep stretch that measures 29 feet tall and 53 feet wide.
“It wasn’t the screen. I wasn’t worried about that. He handled everything well, didn’t try to bear out, was just a gentleman. He worked perfectly and I’m very happy with him.
“I got him in fractions of 59 and three and 1:11 with a gallop out in 1:25, but he did it the right way.”
Campaigned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, Life Is Good was unfortunately found to have an apparent hind-end injury trainer Bob Baffert confirmed to several sources.
“There is always a possibility every day we go to work, but he’s going to be fine,” Baffert told BloodHorse. “It’s disappointing because he’s such an exciting horse.”
Baffert also confirmed that Life Is Good be evaluated by Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky and will recuperate at WinStar Farm.
The two-time Triple Crown winning trainer declined to say what his plans are with his other leading 3-year-olds such as Concert Tour (Street Sense) and Medina Spirit (Protonico).
Past The Wire Staff
Two-time Big ‘Cap winner Lava Man turns 20 at O’Neill barn
Lava Man, the greatest claim in racing history and currently a valued stable pony at the Doug O’Neill barn, celebrated his 20th birthday this morning on the Santa Anita backstretch.
Bred in California by Lonnie Arterburn and Eve and Kim Kuhlmann, Lava Man, affectionately dubbed “The Coach” by O’Neill and his staff, is by Slew City Slew, out of the Nostalgia’s Star mare Li’l Ms Leonard.
Claimed out of his 13th start at age three for $50,000 on August 13, 2004, Lava Man won his first start off the claim, the $50,000 Derby Trial Stakes at Fairplex Park and proceeded to embark upon a sensational career that saw him win back to back Santa Anita Handicaps in 2006 and 07 and three consecutive Hollywood Gold Cups from 2005-07, while amassing career earnings of $5,268,706.
“He’s the head coach, he chaperones every good horse we have to and from the track and he’s been doing this for about 11 years now,” said O’Neill. “Any horse that needs a little behavior correction, he’ll take them out there too. As much as he did for all of us during his racing days, he’s doing maybe even more now in his retirement days being the head pony.”
By Mike Willman
Jetovator favored in Sensational Star
Jetovator makes his stakes debut in Sunday’s $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes and despite that prestigious omission on his otherwise consistent resume, he is Jon White’s 5-2 morning line favorite in a field of seven going 6 ½ furlongs in turf.
Peter Eurton thinks the five-year-old son of Grazen deserves the favorite’s role.
“He likes that (turf) chute and hopefully he’s peaking at the right time,” the trainer said. “It seems like we’ve found his best gig. It’s not dirt sprinting, it’s not dirt routing.
“Five-and-a-half to six furlongs on turf is what he likes so hopefully he can run another good one.”
The gray gelding has two wins sprinting over Santa Anita’s turf, one at six furlongs last Dec. 27, the other at 6 ½ furlongs a month ago on Feb. 20.
He has a 3-4-5 record from 18 starts with earnings of $197,271 for his owners, Ciaglia Racing LLC and SAF Racing.
A wide open race, the Sensational Star, one in the Golden State Series for California-breds, will be run for the 24th time.
It is named for the durable California-bred son of Inherent Star who had 13 wins and 11 seconds from 39 starts earning $442,455 while campaigning from September 1987 to December 1990.
Trained by Bill Spawr, Sensational Star was ridden by 10 different riders in his career, mostly Rafael Meza but including Danny Sorenson, Sandy Hawley, Frank Olivares, Eddie Delahoussaye and Russell Baze.
The Sensational Star goes as the seventh of nine races with a 1 p.m. first post time:
1. Jamming Eddy, Flavien Prat, 7-2
2. Desmond Doss, Abel Cedillo, 3-1
3. Jetovator, Ruben Fuentes, 5-2
4. Royal Trump, Edwin Maldonado, 8-1
5. Margot’s Boy, Juan Hernandez, 6-1
6. Prodigal Son, Tyler Baze, 15-1
7. Brandothebartender, Umberto Rispoli, 7-2.
Baltas vies for training lead after slow start
Richard Baltas, only one behind for the lead in the trainer’s standings after being saddled with seconditis early on, hopes to continue winning with Going to Vegas in next Saturday’s Grade III Santa Ana Stakes for fillies and mares four and up at a mile and a quarter on turf.
The four-year-old daughter of Goldencents was second by a half-length in the Grade III Red Carpet Handicap and second by two lengths in the Grade I American Oaks, both late last year.
Claimed for $50,000 last June, Going to Vegas has not won in seven starts since but has four seconds and one third. She worked five furlongs this morning in 1:03.80.
“This looks like a good spot for her, especially to win,” Baltas said. “She’s had a lot of seconds (eight).”
Ditto for Baltas when the meet unfolded, but now he’s only one win behind leader Phil D’Amato (23) and tied for second with Bob Baffert and Peter Miller (22 each). Doug O’Neill is two back at 20. Perhaps even more significant, Baltas is second to Baffert in purse earnings, $2,081,800 to $1,668,980.
“People tend to think too much about stats,” said Baltas, who, like any serious trainer, has his priorities in order: the horse comes first. “You start out a little slow with 10 or 11 seconds . . . that doesn’t mean you’re having a bad meet.
“We have a whole year and you judge everything by where we’re at the end of it. Because I had one bad month starting out doesn’t mean I’m not going to have a good year.
“You know what you have. You do the right thing with your horses. I have a lot of good ones coming back off layoffs and hopefully during Breeders’ Cup I’ll have a few in there.”
FINISH LINES: There were 181 recorded workouts at Santa Anita Saturday, including a five-furlong move of 59.20 by Runhappy Santa Anita Derby candidate Rombauer, one of several breezers on a busy morning for trainer Michael McCarthy . . . Two-year-old champion male of 2019 Storm the Court’s next race is on hold after prompting the pace before finishing fifth in the Grade II San Carlos Stakes at seven furlongs on March 6. “He’s getting a little freshening right now, tack-walking for a while, but he looks good,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “We have no plans for him. We’ll just give him some a time and go from there.”
Stable Notes by Ed Golden
Photo: Life Is Good in a work at Santa Anita (Zoe Metz Photography)
