Groundhog Day might herald a big spring for pair of 3-year-olds
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sure signs that spring is near – Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow, and a Santa Anita maiden race with Kentucky Derby ramifications.
Both could occur Friday.
In a 1 1/16-mile maiden race at Santa Anita, two well-regarded colts undergo blinker changes appropriate for Groundhog Day – shades off for Restoring Hope, shades on for Heartfullofstars. They meet in race 6, with similar goals.
“If he can win, it gives us options and maybe some Derby aspirations,” said Heartfullofstars’s trainer, Phil D’Amato.
Heartfullofstars makes his California debut after three in-the-money finishes in sprints at Parx Racing.
Why blinkers? D’Amato studied the colt’s early starts on video.
“He looked like he lost a little bit of focus late in those races,” D’Amato said. “I breezed him without blinkers and with them, and they seemed to help.”
One thing that will not help Heartfullofstars is the presence of Restoring Hope, runner-up in an outstanding sprint debut, followed by a disappointing third in a route.
Restoring Hope’s second start came just 13 days after his debut. The short turnaround, extra distance, and his inexperience proved too much.
“I brought him back really quick, trying to get another start in him,” trainer Bob Baffert explained. “He got a little rank early, [the jockey] was fighting him, and I don’t think he liked that. He’s more a free-running horse.”
With five weeks since his last start, and sharp workouts, Restoring Hope should run his best race Friday. The blinkers-off change was inadvertently omitted at entry time and will be announced as a late change. Restoring Hope wore blinkers in both his starts.
Baffert also entered Longden, a gradually improving colt stretching back to two turns. Other contenders include Mo Over, last-out runner-up on turf; Jimmy Chila, the likely pacesetter exiting sprints; and Big Buzz, a turf horse taking a shot on dirt. Art’s Table, Normandy Beach, and Point Guard also were entered.
Race 5 on Friday is an allowance turf sprint for California-bred fillies and mares. Batiquitos returns to turf as the likely favorite over Promnesia, Winemenow, Laynee, Li’l Grazen, and longshot front-runner No Comparison.
But the most significant race Friday is the maiden race, as late arrivals Restoring Hope and Heartfullofstars try to join the Derby trail. Perhaps it is not too late. The 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming did not win a maiden race until Jan. 25.
KEY CONTENDERS
Restoring Hope, by Giant’s Causeway
Beyers: 87-69
◗ If the Friday maiden race had not filled, Baffert was prepared to enter Restoring Hope in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis on Saturday.
“His maiden race at Los Al was just incredible,” Baffert said, describing the colt’s wide-trip, big-finish runner-up effort in his debut. “The two turns is always the question.”
◗ Jockey Flavien Prat has been working Restoring Hope; he replaces Drayden Van Dyke.
◗ Restoring Hope’s owner-breeders are Gary and Mary West, whose West Coast won the Eclipse Award as 2017 champion 3-year-old.
Heartfullofstars, by Astrology
Beyers: 81-76-58
◗ He was transferred to D’Amato in December, following a Nov. 27 runner-up finish behind Wentz, who finished second last weekend at Laurel in a $100,000 stakes.
◗ D’Amato said Heartfullofstars “has gotten better from breeze to breeze.”
“He acts like he’ll run all day,” D’Amato said.
◗ D’Amato said he has trained him for a route.
“He’s had a bunch of long gallops and long breezes,” he said. “He should be ready.”
◗ Santiago Gonzalez is his rider.