Santa Anita news: No Justify or Pharoah in this crop yet, Young says

The 2019 Kentucky Derby is still more than two months away, but it’s never too soon for a touch of Triple Crown fever to permeate the racing world. At Santa Anita Park, at least four 3-year-olds are held in high esteem by private clocker and bloodstock agent Gary Young.

Three of them call Bob Baffert’s shed row home: undefeated Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old male of 2018 Game Winner; Los Alamitos Futurity winner Improbable; and Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner Mucho Gusto.

Another is the California-bred Galilean, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, who also conditions Best Pal winner Instagrand, on the outside looking in at this point in Young’s opinion.

“I don’t see a Justify or a Pharoah so far,” Young said in typically no-holds-barred fashion. “Baffert is very strong, between Game Winner, who’s worked decently, and Improbable, who’s also worked decently, but I’m still a little hesitant about them getting a mile and a quarter (the distance of the Kentucky Derby on May 4). 

“I can’t fault Mucho Gusto, although he doesn’t carry a lot of weight. He’s a horse kind of built like Scotty Pippen, but he’s definitely OK.

“Galilean is another horse that doesn’t carry a lot of weight, although he was somewhat impressive winning the California Cup Derby. He was running against horses he should have manhandled and he beat ‘em.

“Those are the top four right now, I think.”

Not among Young’s quartet is Best Pal Stakes winner Instagrand, who could make his first start as a 3-year-old in the Grade 2, $500,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 9 after a seven-month layoff. Baffert has indicated Game Winner and Improbable as likely to make their 3-year-old debuts at a mile and one-sixteenth in that race, which awards 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner. Second is worth 25, third 10 and fourth five.

Horses based in Southern California have won the Kentucky Derby five of the past seven years: I’ll Have Another (2012), California Chrome (2014), Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (2015), Nyquist (2016) and Triple Crown winner Justify (2018).

“Horses are trained a little bit harder here than they are back east,” Young allowed in assessing the reason for the rash of recent success by Golden State equine residents. “There are good horses and good trainers back there, but lately California’s been on a run, mostly with Baffert, although (Doug) O’Neill’s had his day in the sun too with I’ll Have Another and Nyquist.

“Our top dirt horses can compete with others anywhere. That’s proven all the time, but our turf horses are very concerning.

“In the last three years Justify and Pharoah were the horses, but it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. Right now, however, the picture isn’t that clear in California or anywhere else.

“It’s too early to say this is a below average crop, but in my mind, it is a much foggier picture than a few years ago.”

COCO KISSES MAKES STAKES DEBUT IN SPRING FEVER

Coco Kisses makes her stakes debut in Sunday’s $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes for older fillies and mares at six furlongs.

It is one in the lucrative Golden State Series for California-bred or sired horses.

“She’s a hard-trying filly who gives her best every time,” said Jeff Bonde, who trains the 4-year-old daughter of Empire Way for Edward and Debi Brown and Terry Lovingier.

Lovingier not only also bred Coco Kisses, he bred another Spring Fever starter, Show It N Moe It, trained by Gary Sherlock.

“It’s a short field,” Bonde said, “but the winner will have to earn it. Nobody’s’ getting a freebie in there.”

The Spring Fever, race eight of nine: Show It N Moe It, Rafael Bejarano, 1-1; Coco Kisses, Joel Rosario, 8-1; S Y Sky, Joe Talamo, 6-5; Barbara Beatrice, Tiago Pereira, 5-1; and Into Rissa, Geovanni Franco, 20-1.

FINISH LINES: Tyler Baze, unseated three furlongs from home in yesterday’s ninth race, visited First Aid and has been cleared to ride today . . . Victor Espinoza, in full workout dress, was a Clockers’ Corner visitor today and is scheduled to breeze horses Sunday morning . . . Trainer Tim Yakteen and owner/breeder George Krikorian are on a roll, having won with their last four starters: Mucho Unusual and First Screening last Monday; Big Buzz on Jan. 31; and Camino de Estrella yesterday . . . Now sans agent Carolyn Conley who moved on to greener pastures, jockey Brice Blanc is once again representing himself. “I’ll be my own agent until I figure something else out,” he said.