Hollywood Park: Infinite Magic finally makes it to Hollywood Derby

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – For most of 2013, Infinite Magic has been a candidate for Sunday’s $250,000 Hollywood Derby at Betfair Hollywood Park. Getting here has not gone as smoothly as hoped.

Infinite Magic won the Grade 3 American Derby at Arlington Park in July, and was second in a division of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 1, closing well in the final furlong. From a racing standpoint, the Del Mar Derby was the last thing that went right.

Infinite Magic started in the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby on soft turf in Chicago on Oct. 5. He hated the conditions and ran last of 10.

“It wasn’t just soft,” trainer Rick Mettee said. “It was a raging storm that got worse and worse. He didn’t act on it at all.”

Mettee and the owner, Team Valor International, opted to run Infinite Magic in the Hawthorne Derby instead of sending him to Santa Anita for the Twilight Derby on Nov. 1. Sending Infinite Magic on three cross-country trips in the second half of the year from Metee’s base in Maryland did not have much appeal, the trainer said.

“We knew it could happen at Hawthorne,” he said of the weather. “It was either that or wait for the Twilight Derby, but we didn’t want to ship out, ship back to Maryland, and then ship out here again. We’ve pointed to this for most of the year.”

Joe Talamo will ride Infinite Magic in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, run over 1 1/4 miles on turf. Talamo was aboard for the runner-up finish in the Del Mar Derby. Mettee was encouraged by Infinite Magic’s finish in the American Derby, run over 1 3/16 miles, leading him to believe the Hollywood Derby distance is within reach.

“The mile and a quarter should really suit him,” Mettee said. “He galloped out well going a mile and three-sixteenths.”

The Hollywood Derby will have a strong field, including Admiral Kitten, the winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park in August; Jack Milton, who was third in the Secretariat and third in the Grade 1 Jamaica Handicap at Belmont Park in October; and Rookie Sensation and Gabriel Charles, who were first and second in the Twlight Derby.

Trainer John Shirreffs said earlier in November that Rookie Sensation would skip the Hollywood Derby in favor of the $200,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes over a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, but said on Wednesday that he has changed his mind.

“The derby is a Grade 1,” Shirreffs said. “He’s doing well, so we’ll take a look.”