Barn Tour: Carla Gaines finds a good fit in Southern California

Like many who don’t win classics or Breeders’ Cups or Eclipse awards, Carla Gaines describes herself as a “blue collar” trainer.

That might be the case, but she has found a good fit for herself and her charges on the Southern California racing circuit.

Also like many, Gaines was a horse fanatic as a kid. She attended college in Virginia because it had jumping as part of the physical education curriculum.

“So I went on to get my undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology, and then went for a master's degree in counseling because I wanted to be a psychologist,” she told Horse Racing Nation from Santa Anita on Wednesday. ”The whole time though, always riding. And then my first job was working with troubled kids, and it wasn't as easy as I thought it was. So I decided to take a break from psychology and just go work with horses. I just got involved and never went back.”

Born and raised in Alabama, "my first job working with, quote unquote, racehorses was a training farm way out in the middle of Louisiana, and the weather was so brutal. … I used to sit in the offices in the stallion barn and I would look at the California Thoroughbred and just saw how beautiful and sunny it was. So I decided to pack my stuff and come to California. I've never left after."

Now Gaines has 46 horses in training. She’s at Santa Anita year-round, shifting to Del Mar for the summer.

Gaines provided an update on her top horses for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Barrister's Ride. The 3-year-old Clubhouse Ride filly has a record of 11: 2-2-3 for the year and finished third in open allowance race at Santa Anita on Monday “She was kind of a victim of a slow pace,” Gaines said. “Probably later in the season here we'll have a Cal-bred race, a stakes race on grass, that's where I'll probably place her when that comes up.”

Gillian Elizabeth. The 3-year-old daughter of Astern is 4-for-8 this year, winning a Nov. 19 allowance last out at Del Mar. “Gillian has has done extremely well. And I actually had nominated her for the Robert B. Frankel (G3) coming up. And unfortunately, after her last work, she got a little injury and I had to give her time off.” She’s expected to return in the spring.

Coalinga Road. The 5-year-old son of Quality Road has a 2022 record of 8: 1-3-1 and was third last out in a Nov. 19 stakes at Del Mar. “Coalinga Road is doing fabulous. He's so versatile. He sprints on the dirt. He sprints on the grass. He runs long on the dirt, he runs long on the grass. So we're just going to nominate him for a couple of Cal-bred stakes races, one short on the dirt one long on the grass and figure out which he might fit best in.”

Big Summer. The 4-year-old Mr. Big filly has two wins and two seconds from four starts this year. “She’s doing fabulous, very pleased with her progression this year. She did finish second in a stake at Golden Gate Fields (on Dec. 10) and did not run her race at all. That was a Cal-bred stake, which we thought she'd be pretty devastating in. But we're not sure. She came out of that race great. Didn't seem just to take to the track at all. It rained a lot that day. She's never run on synthetic. But she's come back to train fantastic. And she's going to run in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint down the hill on Jan. 7. … That's going to be kind of a salty race, because we're going to probably have a lot of fillies and mares who are kind of downhill specialists and who have done extremely well. But I'm really not afraid of them the way this filly is training.”

Anacapa. The 3-year-old Tiznow filly was unraced last year and is 2-for-6 this year. “Anacapa is doing very, very well. She's just been entered today in a Grade 3 here at Santa Anita (the Las Flores), sprinting on the dirt.”

True Patriot. This 3-year-old daughter of Clubhouse Ride, unraced as a 2-year-old, has a 6: 1-4-0 record and finished second Monday in an allowance for California-breds down the hill at Santa Anita. “That's a great example of a horse who's not familiar with the hill and is lightly raced. So they left the starting gates … and she was so far behind, it was an embarrassment. We couldn't get her going. And she's like, where am I? We don't run down the hill. And we don't run to the right in most instances. And I don't know – she crossed the dirt, when she got on the flat. She kicked. It was an amazing finish. I don't even think she started running until the eighth pole. And she got beat a head. You need to watch that race replay. I mean, I'm so proud of her. And just the next stride she was in front.”

She’s right about watching the race:

Briefcase Girl. Also unraced as a juvenile, the 3-year-old daughter of Hit It a Bomb is 5: 1-2-0 this year. “I'm surprised she hasn't progressed further than she has by now. But I just entered her, she runs on Friday down the hill. And that's another one – I was so high on her. I did run her in a stake down the hill. I thought the hill would be perfect for her. And she seemed a little lost the first time, she was beaten five or six links to Connie Swingle, who is a down-the-hill specialist. So we're back in an allowance race on Friday. And it's down the hill again, but hopefully she'll be familiar with it this time and run better.”

Closing Remarks. The 4-year-old daughter of Vronsky hasn’t raced since March after starting the year with an allowance optional claiming win, a third in the Buena Vista (G2) and a fourth in the Santa Ana (G3). “She is entered in the Frankel, she's making her first start on Saturday, depending on – we're going to get a big rainstorm supposedly. If they take it off the grass, I wouldn't run her.” Closing Remarks has finished second four times to Going Global, “absolutely one of the best 3-year-old fillies in the country and maybe the best early in the season. … She's not in our race Saturday). So I'm at least happy about that.”

Doris Mae. The 3-year-old Dads Caps filly raced only once last year, was off for 15 months and is 2-for-2 this year. “She’s been a bit of an overachiever,” Gaines said. “She broke her maiden on the dirt here at first asking and then there was no dirt race at Del Mar. So I ran her in a Cal-bred race in Del Mar, a 1x. But on the dirt, she just went wire to wire, and on the grass, she sat off the pace and closed on the rail to win. So she's had two starts, two wins, and she's also running against Anacapa and the Grade 3 Las Flores.”

Rhythem On Stage. This 2-year-old son of Uptown Rhythem has yet to break his maiden but was second last out at Del Mar. “I'm crazy about this horse,” Gaines said. “It's just taking him a few races to come around. And he actually was a somewhat difficult, full horse. He ran second at Del Mar, ran a really, really good race. Had to kind of make two runs in the race. But he was just trying to jump on the pony, and we ended up gelding him after that race and boy, he's come back. He's just training so well. He always did train well, but now he's a little more focused.” He’ll be back in a maiden dirt sprint on Jan. 7.