Georgie Boy wound tight for Dash

ARCADIA, Calif. - Like everyone else at Santa Anita on Thursday morning, trainer Kathy Walsh was growing anxious over the condition of the main track. She has been pointing Georgie Boy, the winner of the Del Mar Futurity, to Saturday's $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash for weeks, and has watched him train sensationally coming into the race. But with Cushion Track once again turning to mush, Walsh was concerned.

"It doesn't look pretty," she said. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to run him on a bad racetrack. He's too nice a horse."

That he is. Georgie Boy ran five times last year, never finished out of the money, and won a pair of stakes, including the Graduation for California-breds at Del Mar. While his Beyer Speed Figures were never dazzling, they may have been dumbed down over Del Mar's Polytrack surface. In recent weeks, Georgie Boy has turned in a series of sharp workouts at Santa Anita and then Hollywood Park, all with jockey Garrett Gomez aboard. He's ready. But is the track?

"He's been working fast, but he's been working in hand," Walsh said. "Every one of his works has been more than we wanted, but he's done it so easily. He's coming back strong. He's coming up to the race as good as you could come up to a race. It's a tough decision right now on whether to run. Everybody's in the same position."

Tell Jeff Mullins. The trainer of Winsome Charm skipped the 6 1/2-furlong San Pedro Stakes last week, believing the six-furlong Sunshine Millions Dash a better option. "He got an extra week, he's better at three-quarters, and it's more money," Mullins said. "It was kind of a no-brainer."

Until the rain came this week.

"You miss a day or two here or there. You're not able to train like you want," Mullins said.

Winsome Charm most recently finished second in a first-level allowance race at Hollywood Park that was won by the speedy Sea of Pleasure, who came back to run second in the San Pedro.

There are 10 3-year-olds entered in the Dash, six from California, topped by Georgie Boy, and four bred in Florida, including the California-based Winsome Charm.

Bob Black Jack, a Cal-bred, is likely the one to catch. He led from start to finish in a 6 1/4-length victory in the seven-furlong California Breeders' Champion Stakes on opening day, Dec. 26. Dee Dee's Legacy finished fourth in that race as the favorite.

Afleet Ruler, a Florida-bred, is being wheeled back 14 days after defeating maidens at Santa Anita.