Guillot putting his faith in voodoo

Eric Guillot is practicing the voodoo that he knows so well. His attempt to ward off evil spirits worked at Saratoga when he won the Whitney with Moreno, so as part of his preparation for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1, the Louisiana-born trainer has fashioned another voodoo wall on his barn at Santa Anita.

Moreno, who had his final pre-Classic workout Friday at Santa Anita, is the only horse from last year’s Classic back for another go-round. He was 10th of 11 last year.

Guillot takes pride in that Moreno is back – “He’s got three legs going every which way but straight, but he’s here,” he said – but he’s not leaving everything up to the horse.

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So, as he did at Saratoga, he’s trying to put the hex on his rivals in the Classic.

Atop the tableau on the wall of his barn is a doll that represents Guillot. In red letters across the doll’s triangular outfit is the word “Jenius,” Guillot’s purposeful misspelling of “genius.”

Just below that is a piece of string, the line of demarcation between good and evil. Below the string are several small toys that Guillot said represent some of his rivals in the race. He’ll explain because, as he put it, “A friend of mine said I’m not politically incorrect, I’m politically wrong.”

“We’ve got Kermit the Frog. That’s for Clement,” he said of Christophe Clement, the French-born trainer of Tonalist.

“Charlie Brown is for Chad Brown,” he said of the trainer of Zivo. “Spongebob, that’s Baffert,” he said of Bob Baffert, the trainer of Bayern. “Woody from ‘Toy Story,’ that’s Mott,” he said of Bill Mott, the trainer of Cigar Street.

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“You seen that commercial, 1-800-THE-GENERAL? I got that general doll. That’s for the general, Hollendorfer,” he said of Jerry Hollendorfer, the trainer of Shared Belief. “Mr. Magoo, that’s Peter Miller,” he said of the trainer of Big Cazanova. He also has a toy of the child Sherman from the cartoon “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” which Guillot said represents Art Sherman, the trainer of California Chrome.

Below them is a talisman, adjacent to the words “Gris Gris,” which Guillot said puts the voodoo spell on his rivals and brings him luck.

On the racetrack Friday, Moreno went six furlongs in 1:12.38 with jockey Tyler Baze. Javier Castellano has the mount in the Classic. Baze rides Majestic Harbor.

“He worked real well, 1:12 and 2 with his ears pricked,” Guillot said. “He wouldn’t blow out a match afterwards. Perfect. And the track was a little dead today. It’s all he needed.”

Moreno, a 4-year-old gelding, has won three times in 22 starts and has finished second seven times, including in last year’s Travers. His lone win this year came in the Whitney. Since then, he was second in the Woodward, then finished fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup before being disqualified for an incident that caused Wicked Strong to lose jockey Rajiv Maragh.