Clampett takes on Baffert pair in debut
Clampett, who will have his career debut in a maiden special weight race on Sunday at Los Alamitos, is a 2-year-old who does not act his age.
“He’s a very forward horse,” trainer Mark Glatt said Friday. “For a 2-year-old, he’s been a class act. He breezes very solidly. He’s cruised along here really good without much interruption.
“He certainly acts like a quality horse.”
Owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal, Clampett drew the rail in a five-furlong race that drew five runners. Trainer Bob Baffert has two starters – Carbonite and Messier – who were expensive yearling purchases. Trainer Luis Mendez, whose stable specializes in early-season 2-year-old races, starts Grazen Touch and Olympic Legend.
Clampett, by Flatter, has worked steadily since early April at the San Luis Rey Downs training center and Santa Anita. He worked a half-mile from the gate in a solid 48 seconds on June 14 at Santa Anita.
Flavien Prat, the leading rider at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting that ended June 20, has the mount. Prat has three rides at Los Alamitos on Sunday, his first day of riding at the meeting, which began Friday. Prat was scheduled to ride at Belmont Park on Saturday.
Glatt cautioned that the five-furlong distance may be shorter than Clampett would prefer, but that no other options are available for several weeks.
“I don’t know that from a pedigree standpoint that he’ll be the greatest five-furlong horse in the world,” Glatt said. “He might want more ground.
“It was a situation where if we waited two or three more weeks and could run him farther, we could have chosen to make that move.
“I would fully expect the others in the race are going to be very quick. They may out-foot him a little bit early. He does have a long stretch to work with. If he can be finishing strongly, that would be the number one goal.”
Carbonite, a ridgling by Union Rags, was purchased for $560,000 and is out of Ms Short Fuze, a half-sister to 2017 Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing. Messier, a colt by Empire Maker, was purchased for $470,000 and is out of Checkered Past, a two-time stakes winner at Woodbine in 2014 and 2015.
“They’re both nice horses, training well,” Baffert wrote in a text message.
Messier will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, his only mount this weekend.
The Mendez-trained Grazen Touch has worked quickly in recent weeks for his debut and could easily show speed. Olympic Legend is the only runner in the field with race experience, having finished sixth in a maiden special weight race at five furlongs on turf June 11 at Santa Anita.