Desormais, Cozzetti Likely for CashCall Futurity
Two-year-olds were coming from everywhere for the $750,000 CashCall Futurity December 17 at Hollywood Park.
Desormais was flown to California from Europe Wednesday, one day after Cozzetti arrived from Kentucky, to swell the probable lineup to 13 in the Grade I test at 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track.
“Desormais is en route from Amsterdam as we speak,” said Aron Wellman, head of the Eclipse Thoroughbred partnership that owns the colt, Wednesday morning of a scheduled noon landing. He is scheduled to join the Paddy Gallagher stable after clearing quarantine.
“We bought Desormais after he broke his maiden in his third start on November 15, at a mile and a quarter at Marseilles,” said Wellman of the French-raced Kentucky-bred colt, a son of War Front.
“I’m worried the Futurity might be a little too short for him,” added Wellman. “He won on an all-weather track, a tight left-handed course.”
Cozzetti got his first look at the track after being shipped in from Kentucky by trainer Dale Romans. The gray/roan son of Cozzene walked shedrow in Barn 50 South with groom Ubaldo Maldonado after jogging two miles on the main track with exercise rider Faustino Aguilar.
Cozzetti broke his maiden by five lengths in his third try on a sloppy Churchill Downs track November 16 at 1 1/16 miles under Julien Leparoux.
Owner Jeff Bloom and trainer Peter Miller were ecstatic after Majestic City showed his readiness for the Futurity with a bullet four-furlong work in 46.80 seconds.
“Our guy is unbeaten on this track, three for three, and the only bad race he’s run is in the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf), where he didn’t get over the soft footing,” said Bloom of the Hollywood Juvenile Championship winner.
Bloom said that Ramon Dominguez will ride the colt for the first time. Miller won the 2010 Futurity with Comma to the Top.
Majestic City, Desormais and Cozzetti could join a lineup including the Bob Baffert-trained trio of Liaison, So Brilliant and Sky Kingdom, the Doug O’Neill-trained duo of Basmati and Handsome Mike, the Jerry Hollendofer-conditioned pair of Rousing Sermon and Longview Drive, Brother Francis, Empire Way and Maryland shipper Lucky Chappy.