Hollywood Park notes: Baffert planning all-out attack on CashCall

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile did not work out quite the way trainer Bob Baffert had hoped, but he’s reloading and setting his sights on the Grade 1, $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park on Dec. 15, in which he vows to “run as many as I can.”

“I’ll try to load the gate up,” Baffert said.

Baffert added two more possibilities last week at Hollywood Park. Carving, who bypassed the Breeders’ Cup after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes, won the Real Quiet Stakes, and the Giant’s Causeway colt War Academy was an impressive winner of his debut.

Carving’s name was inspired by his co-owner, ski great Bode Miller, who owns half the colt in partnership with Baffert’s wife, Jill. Miller was at the track Saturday for the Real Quiet, and said purchasing Carving was a process years in making.

“I met Bob a long time ago in Kentucky and we talked about getting a horse for years, but my budget is bit smaller than most,” Miller said. “We were kind of waiting to see if we could find one that he thought had potential, but I wasn’t going to break the bank for our first horse. I told him I required him to go 50-50 so I knew he wouldn’t throw me some snail.”

Carving, a son of Any Given Saturday, was purchased at auction in May for $55,000. He has now won 3 times in 4 starts, and with the $60,000 he earned in the Real Quiet, his bankroll stands at $129,900.

“This horse has really been a surprise,” Baffert said. “He shows much more in the afternoons than the morning. He gets outworked by everybody.”

By contrast, War Academy was all the rage before his first start last Friday, and he did not disappoint. He had been training with assistant Mike Marlow at Hollywood Park, where Baffert keeps his overflow horses, but after the win last week, Baffert brought him over to Santa Anita, where he is based.

Kubinova scores first local win

Jockey Eliska Kubinova, who recently relocated to Southern California after a successful meeting at Emerald Downs in Washington, got her first local win in the final race on Sunday with the maiden claimer Valeria for trainer John Shirreffs.

Kubinova, 23, is a native of the Czech Republic who set a record for victories by an apprentice at Emerald. She had been working horses for Shirreffs for a couple of weeks before Sunday’s race.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “I’m very thankful to everybody who gave me the opportunity.”

Kubinova said she would “like to try” to stay in Southern California.

◗ Eblouissante, a half-sister to Zenyatta, is entered to make her debut in Friday’s fourth race for Shirreffs, who trains her for her breeder, Eric Kronfeld. Eblouissante, 3, a daughter of Bernardini, will start off in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race against seven rivals. Corey Nakatani has the mount. Zenyatta also made her debut in the fall of her 3-year-old year at Hollywood Park, on Nov. 22, 2007, but in a sprint.