High hopes for first-time starter Schrodinger

CYPRESS, Calif. – Schrodinger, a 2-year-old first-time starter who runs in Sunday’s fifth race at Los Alamitos, is keeping top jockey Flavien Prat on the go this weekend.

Prat was booked to ride at Woodbine on Saturday. Schrodinger is one of two mounts for Prat on Sunday’s nine-race program at Los Alamitos.

Purchased for $550,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales 2-year-olds in training auction in March, Schrodinger will start in a maiden special weight amidst high expectations from owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Simon Callaghan.

“We expect him to run very well first time,” Callaghan said. “He’s done things right in the morning.”

By Justin Phillip, Schrodinger has had several quick workouts in recent weeks, notably a half-mile in 47 seconds from the gate at Santa Anita on June 15.

“We bought him at a breeze-up sale and he had a good foundation,” Callaghan said. “We slowly let him come along. The last three works have been encouraging.”

Schrodinger is part of a field of eight, five of which are first-time starters.

Ten Cents, a California-bred colt by Goldencents, will make his debut from the outside post. Ten Cents was purchased for $130,000 at the Barretts select yearling sale at Del Mar last August.

Trained by Brian Koriner for Samantha Siegel, Ten Cents has been based at Los Alamitos.

“I don’t know if he’s a good as Simon Callaghan’s $500,000 horse,” Koriner said.

“He’s done everything easy. We haven’t asked him to run in the morning. Everything he’s done on paper, he’s been under wraps.

“We can give him a good race and see how good he really is.”