Already on the campaign trail, Romans could hop on Derby trail with Rockies Balboa
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dale Romans will be hard on the campaign trail this spring trying to win a Senate seat for the state of Kentucky. He’s also hoping he might be on the Kentucky Derby trail at the same time, a dream that gained some momentum here Thursday when Rockies Balboa ran off to an impressive five-length allowance victory in a race restricted to Florida-breds going seven furlongs on the main track.
Thursday’s one-sided triumph, with jockey Junior Alvarado aboard, was the second in a row for Rockies Balboa. The son of Girvin is owned by a partnership group that includes Charles Monfort, who along with his brother Richard, are the principal owners of the Colorado Rockies baseball franchise.
Rockies Balboa came to South Florida a maiden after three starts but showed off a good deal of promise in his second race when earning a 91 Beyer Speed Figure after finishing a solid second to trainer Todd Pletcher’s well-meant first-time starter Local Knowledge in a maiden special weight dash at Keeneland on Oct. 4.
He’s obviously taken a shine to the local surroundings, having won his maiden by 5 3/4 lengths here to close out his 2-year-old campaign before drawing away in similar fashion when facing statebreds for the first time on Thursday.
“He’s a nice colt, he ran a huge race at Keeneland, he’s got a lot of quality and I believe he can run against open company,” Romans said. “I just talked to Junior about whether he thought he will handle two turns and he said he’s ready.”
As for the possibility of moving Rockies Balboa right up out of statebred allowance company into one of the many upcoming Derby preps on the horizon, Romans left little doubt about his intentions.
“We might try some big boys later. You know me, I like to jump right into the deep water,” Romans said with a laugh while adding that a start in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth here later this month was “very possible.”
“This is the first [and only] horse owned by Charlie Monfort, who owns the Colorado Rockies,” Romans noted. “And he’s really getting to like the game. We’ll see what he wants to do and go from there.”
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