The Lumber Guy Ready to Rumble in Malibu

Neil Drysdale has had The Lumber Guy since the gray son of Grand Slam ran a bang up second to Trinniberg in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, when the colt was moved from trainer Michael Hushion to the Hall of Fame trainer at Betfair Hollywood Park.

“He’s doing well so far,” Drysdale said of The Lumber Guy, who shows five published workouts over Hollywood’s Cushion Track since his Sprint runner-up effort under John Velazquez, who comes in from the East Coast to ride The Lumber Guy in the Malibu.

With rain falling on Santa Anita into Monday morning, the main track was closed to workouts although the training track was open. Drysdale said The Lumber Guy, the 3-1 morning line favorite, would run in the Malibu even if the track were off.

Owned by Barry Schwartz, The Lumber Guy has s four wins from seven starts and earnings of $735,800. He already has a Grade I win, coming in the Vosburgh Invitational over a “good” Belmont track last Sept. 29.

The field for the Malibu, race eight of nine: Fed Biz, Mike Smith, 9-2; Jimmy Creed, Garrett Gomez, 6-1; Drill, Martin Garcia, 4-1; The Lumber Guy, John Velazquez, 3-1; Politicallycorrect, Joel Rosario, 6-1; Basmati, Mario Gutierrez, 20-1; Castaway, Joe Talamo, 20-1; Private Zone, Martin Pedroza, 10-1; Guilt Trip, Rafael Bejarano, 12-1; and Unbridled’s Note, Corey Nakatani, 9-2.