Frank Conversation doesn't lack for competition in San Francisco Mile

The Grade 3, $200,000 San Francisco Mile on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields has attracted 12 runners in one of the deepest fields seen in Northern California in recent years.

The comebacking Grade 2 winner Frank Conversation is the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the one-mile grass race. Other top contenders include Syntax (4-1), who finished second or third in three graded turf stakes last year; Chilean Grade 1 winner Full of Luck (5-1), who will make his U.S. debut for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer; Editore (6-1), winner of the Grade 3 Berkeley here last November; Flamboyant (6-1), a Grade 2 winner who would pass the $1 million mark in earnings with a win here; and Camino Del Paraiso (10-1), who may be best of the locally based entrants.

Frank Conversation, who won the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby here two years ago at 3, hasn’t raced since he finished third in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Cup at Santa Anita in October. He went 0 for 5 last year, albeit against some of the best turf horses in the country at Santa Anita and Saratoga.

J.J. Hernandez takes over the mount on Frank Conversation from Southern California-based Mario Gutierrez.

“We know he’s got talent, and J.J. is one of the best jockeys up there,” said Doug O’Neill, Frank Coversation’s trainer. “I wish we had a race or two under his belt, but his works have been good. Things look good.”

Camino Del Paraiso comes off perhaps the best race of his career, a second-place finish, beaten a head, in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic for California-breds on Jan. 27 at Santa Anita. Camino Del Paraiso clipped heels on the far turn of the 1 1/8-mile turf race, rallied four wide, took the lead in midstretch, but was nipped by favored Rye.

Trainer O.J. Jauregui said he is expecting a much better performance from Camino Del Paraiso on Saturday than in last year’s San Francisco Mile, when he finished sixth off a five-month layoff.

“Obviously, we have confidence,” Jauregui said. “Last year when we ran here, he needed the race. But he’s really sharp.”

Completing the field are Mr. Roary, a Grade 3 winner on turf; Many Roses, who was third in this race last year; Grecian Fire, winner of the Alcatraz over this course last year; Aqua Frio, a stakes winner at Emerald Downs; Bird Is the Word, coming off a second in the Obviously Mile in October at Santa Anita; and No More Talk, who has been racing at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The San Francisco Mile has supplanted the now-ungraded El Camino Real Derby as Golden Gate Fields’s signature race. At one time a Grade 2 event, the San Francisco Mile has attracted some of the better turf milers in California, including in 1999, when Tuzla won with Silic fourth. Silic won the Breeders’ Cup Mile that year with Tuzla second.

Key Contenders

Frank Conversation, by Quality Road

Last 3 Beyers: 97-98-91

◗ He was beaten 2 1/2 lengths by head winner Itsinthepost and runner-up Prime Attraction in the John Henry Turf Classic. Itsinthepost has won all three of his races this year, all Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita, and Prime Attraction has gone on to win the Grade 3 Native Diver and run second in the Grade San Pasqual at Santa Anita.

◗ The one-mile distance may be a bit too short for Frank Conversation, who has run his best races at 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/4 miles.

Camino Del Paraiso, by Suances

Last 3 Beyers: 92-82-91

◗ He has finished second or third in his last four stakes attempts.