Calder: Rose to Gold running in Keeneland's Alcibiades after all

MIAMI – Local 2-year-old filly sensation Rose to Gold is going to Kentucky after all.

One week after leaning toward backing off a bit on the undefeated and untested Rose to Gold, trainer Sal Santoro put his star on a van bound for Lexington along with four of her stablemates, all of whom are scheduled to compete at Keeneland over the next several weeks.

Rose to Gold has won her first two starts by a combined margin of 26 1/2 lengths, both victories coming in two-turn stakes races – the one-mile Lindsay Frolic and the mile-and-70-yard Brave Raj.

Santoro is pointing Rose to Gold, a daughter of Friends Lake, to the Grade 1 Alcibiades on Oct. 5.

“She’s training really, really well,” said Santoro, who is the private trainer for Rose to Gold’s owners, Kathleen Amaya and Rafael Centofanti. “She’s been feeling fantastic since going back to the track after the Brave Raj.”

Santoro sent Rose to Gold out for an open gallop under jockey Jesus Rios at Calder on Monday.

“When she got around to the wire she started picking it up and kept going and going around to the half-mile pole,” he said. “She went in like 49 under a hold and didn’t want to stop. She came back to the barn, took one breath, and she was done. At that point I said, ‘Man, we got to go.’ ”

She was accompanied on her van ride by Fine Silver, who’ll run in the Grade 3 Pin Oak Valley View Stakes on Oct. 19; More Than Speed, running in the $100,000 Buffalo Trace on Oct. 12; For the Win, a recent allowance winner at Calder; and Centofanti, a 2-year-old son of Street Sense who’ll make her career debut at Keeneland.

Santoro said he is concerned about switching Rose to Gold to the Polytrack at Keeneland after she has done all her training and racing on the dirt at Calder.

“But I took Musical Flair to Keeneland last year and he ran well over that track, which gives me a lot of confidence,” he said. “Rose to Gold has done a lot of training over an off track and she handles it well, and I just have a feeling she’s going to love that surface up there.”

Santoro said Rose to Gold will have one work at Keeneland prior to her next start, with Rios scheduled to be aboard her again in the Alcibiades.

As for the Breeders’ Cup, Santoro admits there would be a chance Rose to Gold could go to Santa Anita for the Juvenile Fillies if she were to perform up to expectations in the Alcibiades. Rose to Gold is not Breeders’ Cup eligible and would have to be supplemented to the Juvenile Fillies.

“There’s thoughts, there’s always thoughts,” admitted Santoro. “If God is on our side and we win the Alcibiades, it’s her money then. But before we supplement her or think about making the trip, I’ll repeat what I’ve said before: It’s all about her. We’d have to see how she was doing before making that decision.”

Rios chasing Saez, Sanchez in standings

Rios is off to a good start at the Tropical meet, having won with nine of his first 43 mounts, a 21 percent success rate. He stood in sixth place in the standings entering Wednesday’s program behind runaway leader Luis Saez (34 wins). Apprentice Hugo Sanchez is trying to give Saez a challenge for the title, having registered 22 victories after the opening three weeks of the new session.

The trainer race figures to go right to the wire this fall, with Kirk Ziadie holding a tenuous one-win lead over eight of his peers at the beginning of Wednesday’s action. Ziadie has been efficient with his starters, greeting six of the 14 horses he’s run during the Tropical meet in the winner’s circle.

Other high-percentage trainers include Luis Ramirez, who is 5 for 9 after the opening three weeks of the meet; Marty Wolfson and Steve DiMauro, both 5 for 13; and David Fawkes who has clicked with five of his first 14 starters.