Eurton's promising stable includes mix of young and old

DEL MAR, Calif. – Even during the lull following Breeders’ Cup, the machinery of a major stable continues to hum.

There might be a 3-year-old campaign to design for a surprise Derby contender or a swanky maiden winner. Perhaps an autumn road trip looms for a Grade 3 winner working as if a Grade 1 victory is imminent, or a pending comeback by a millionaire 8-year-old.

For trainer Peter Eurton, it is all the above. Storm the Court shocked the BC Juvenile at $93.80; Royal Act ran to his $500,000 auction price with a solid debut victory Sunday. Next season plans for the 2-year-old are being formulated; the older horses race this month.

Draft Pick will travel to Churchill Downs for the Grade 1 Clark on Nov. 29, bringing a proper résumé and sharp recent workouts. The $1.4 million earner Ashleyluvssugar will be nominated to the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap on Nov. 30 at Golden Gate Fields.

While the high-profile group commands future attention, a low-profile Eurton trainee requires immediate scrutiny Friday at Del Mar. Doc Yco Cheeks enters the featured seventh race, a turf allowance for Cal-bred fillies and mares, as the horse to beat.

Eight fillies and mares entered the mile race, including recent runner-up Magnificent Q T, up-in-class longshot Avalon Ride, and lightly raced Rose Dunn. Doc Yco Cheeks is the least experienced in the field, and 5-2 program favorite.

Doc Yco Cheeks, a 3-year-old filly named for noted Southern California plastic surgeon Dr. Mario Yco, finished second in her debut in fall 2018 before being sidelined by a tibia injury. She returned last month with an impressive win in a Cal-bred maiden turf mile.

“She’s only run twice, and she seems to be training forwardly,” Eurton said, satisfied at her post-race condition. “She’s had a couple longer, easier works.”

A chestnut sired by Unusual Heat and owned by breeders Sharon Alesia and Joe Ciaglia, Doc Yco Cheeks is a sibling to the same connections’ retired Grade 2 winner Cheekaboo. Any similarities other than pedigree?

“Same color,” Eurton laughed. “This filly is a little more athletic, she has a turn of foot, whereas Cheekaboo was kind of a grinder. This filly has a little speed about her.”

Speed can be deployed early or late; turf runners typically go late. Racing one mile in both starts, Doc Yco Cheeks ran the final quarter-mile of her debut in 23.55 seconds, and she finished in 23.89 seconds winning her comeback. Only two Friday rivals recently came home in less 24 seconds – Lucky Ms. Jones and Magnificent Q T.

Friday, Eurton will try to extend a modest winning streak with favorites – he has won with his last four favorites and is 11 for 27 the past year. Of course, Eurton also delivers an occasional parimutuel knockout, which he did Nov. 1.

Storm the Court, 45-1 upset winner of the BC Juvenile, is being freshened for a 3-year-old campaign. His first start of 2020 is pending.

“The stakes book isn’t out yet for Santa Anita, and with all the volatility right now it’s tough to say what’s going to happen,” Eurton said. “We are thinking some time in January, early February.”

Santa Anita usually runs the Grade 3, mile and a sixteenth Robert B. Lewis Stakes the first week of February; the Grade 2, seven-furlong San Vicente is usually the second week of February. A stablemate might accompany Storm the Court on the Derby trail.

Royal Act, a $500,000 American Pharoah colt, won his debut at a mile on turf Sunday. He will skip the Grade 3 Cecille B. DeMille Stakes on Dec. 1. “I don’t want to run him back in three weeks,” Eurton said.

Though he won on turf, Royal Act is likely to experiment. “One day down the line, we’re going to try him on dirt. He was starting to train better on dirt,” Eurton said.

Royal Act is eligible to a first-level allowance, while the Eddie Logan Stakes is another possibility. The mile turf stakes for 2-year-olds is typically run the first week of the Santa Anita winter meet.

Draft Pick rebounded from a subpar fifth in the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita, and worked six furlongs in 1:13.60 Monday at Santa Anita.

“He had a lovely three-quarters,” Eurton said. “It was a nice breeze on this racetrack, which is very deep.”

Based on his runner-up finish in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, Draft Pick figures as a leading contender in the Clark.

Ashleyluvssugar is the Eurton stable veteran, an 8-year-old with six graded wins on turf. Eurton will consider the Berkeley on Golden Gate’s synthetic surface later this month even though “a mile and a sixteenth is probably a little shorter than I want to go.”