Dominguez confident in maiden

POMONA, Calif. - Trainer Caesar Dominguez is so confident in Wings of Sound that he believes the preliminary odds line is too high, although Wings of Sound is favored in the $115,000 Barretts Juvenile on Sunday at Fairplex.

"He is 5-2? He should be 9-5," Dominguez said. By post time Sunday, Wings of Sound might be that short. The 6 1/2-furlong Barretts Juvenile attracted 12 entrants, and 10 will start in the race restricted to 2-year-olds who were offered at a Barretts auction.

Wings of Sound is a maiden, but so are eight of the 12 entrants, including the second and third betting choices, Magic Max and The Skinny Man. It is not a strong group. Bench the Judge is the only entrant who has won a maiden special weight.

Dominguez and partners spent $50,000 on Wings of Sound at the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training. When was the last time Dominguez spent that much?

"Never," he said. "He was a good-looking horse that might have gone for $150,000 to $200,000, but with the economy, we got lucky and got him for $50,000."

Wings of Sound began his career at Del Mar, raced three times, and improved each start. He finished seventh in his debut, then ran fourth, then stretched to a turf route Aug. 28. It was the first mount in five weeks for jockey Rafael Bejarano. Wings of Sound finished second by a length.

Dominguez said Bejarano told him "I got tired, I should have won." David Flores picks up the mount Sunday, and a sharp six-furlong workout in 1:12.60 at Fairplex suggests the son of Vindication loves the track.

"He could have gone 1:11," Dominguez said. "He went very easy." If all goes well into fall, Dominguez will point Wings of Sound toward the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. But first, he will have to take care of business Sunday.

Magic Max, trained by Bob Baffert, finished fifth of seven in one of the fastest 2-year-old maiden sprints of the Del Mar meet. Magic Max finished fifth by six lengths, yet earned an 81 Beyer Speed Figure that is the highest in the Barretts field. Aaron Gryder rides.

The Skinny Man finished third in his May 30 debut, was off three months, and then returned with another solid third-place finish behind the exciting colt Dave in Dixie. Doug O'Neill trains The Skinny Man, and Alonso Quinonez will ride.