Governor Malibu: Confidence Builder for the Guv

Many moons ago, trainer Steve DiMauro felt like his high-priced, and very talented colt needed a confidence builder. Wajima had finished second in two-straight Grade 2 races at Belmont Park. Not bad results, but as the beaten favorite in both, and a horse in which so much was expected, practically since birth, it was not quite what they were looking for.

DiMauro had been patient with the big, lazy colt, who was once a record yearling purchase of $600,000. He did not rush him to the Triple Crown, but now well into the summer, he felt like it was time for Wajima to finally put it all together. The confidence builder came in the form of a small stakes race out of town at the old Bowie Race Track. The son of Bold Ruler won the Marylander Handicap by eight lengths at odds of 3-10. Considering the competition, he did only what was expected of him, but in actuality, he did so much more.

DiMauro and Wajima got exactly what they needed from their confidence building trip to Bowie. He had turned the corner. After the easy win in Maryland, Wajima reeled off four more consecutive wins. Each victory came in a Grade 1, and included a ten-length romp in the Travers, and back-to-back scores over the reigning Horse of the Year, Forego. At the end of the year, Wajima was named the Champion 3yo Male of 1975, despite skipping all three legs of the Triple Crown.

Why this trip down down memory lane today? There was a confidence builder this afternoon at Belmont Park which had me thinking back to the great Wajima.

It remains to be seen whether Governor Malibu will ever be a champion, but I love what his crafty trainer, Christophe Clement did with his star three-year-old today. The New York-bred son of Malibu Moon did not seem like a typical starter in the third race at Belmont on a sloppy Friday afternoon, but the conditional New York-bred allowance/optional claimer today could end up being a turning point in the talented chestnut colt's career.

Much like Wajima, more than four decades ago, it was not that Governor Malibu had been running poorly. Since getting taken down from victory in the Fedrico Tesio, he had finished 2nd in the Peter Pan, 4th in the Belmont Stakes, 2nd in the Jim Dandy, and 5th in the Travers. Sent off at 1-10 in today's third, sometimes we all need a little confidence builder. 

It's good news that a very good horse ran today at Belmont. In fact, he won by 7 1/2 lengths, in racehorse time of 1:41.76. This race was not beneath him, but rather a continuing part of his development as a topnotch horse. It was a race in which he was eligible, and under the master conditioning of Clement, I'm sure it will do him good.

It's also good news that he will be back at four. Watch out for Governor Malibu in 2017.