Hollywood Park notes: Goldencents will target Santa Anita’s Strub next month

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Goldencents, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita last month, will skip the $300,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 in favor of the $200,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds on Jan. 18.

Owners Glenn Sorgenstein and Josh Kaplan made the decision on Wednesday after discussing options with trainer Doug O’Neill, Sorgenstein said. Goldencents was seventh as the 3-1 favorite in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 30.

“In all probability, he’ll skip the Malibu and we’ll shoot for the Strub Stakes,” Sorgenstein said. “That gives him a little extra time off.”
Goldencents has won five of 13 starts and earned $1,994,000. He won the Santa Anita Derby in April, but was 17th in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Preakness Stakes in May.

Goldencents was switched to sprints during the summer and early fall, and was second in three straight stakes – the Bing Crosby and Pat O’Brien at Del Mar and the Santa Anita Sprint Championship in October.

In the BC Dirt Mile, Goldencents led throughout to win by 2 3/4 lengths. In the Cigar Mile, Goldencents was bumped at the start and raced three wide, finishing 6 1/2 lengths behind Flat Out.

“He’s been a good horse as a 3-year-old,” Sorgenstein said. “As a 4-year-old, I want to race him a little more sparingly. We think he’s a two-turn horse.”

The Strub will be run at a new distance this year. Recently, the Grade 2 race has been run over 1 1/8 miles in early February, but it has been moved to mid-January and will be run over 1 1/16 miles. The race takes the slot of the San Fernando Stakes for 4-year-olds, which is no longer on the stakes schedule.

Nakatani eyes Grade 1 races

The final weeks of racing at Hollywood Park could be especially memorable for jockey Corey Nakatani.

Last Sunday, Nakatani won the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby with Seek Again. Over the next two weekends, he has excellent chances to win two more races at that level with 2-year-olds before the track is permanently closed on Dec. 22.

Saturday, Nakatani rides Arethusa in the $500,000 Hollywood Starlet. He is expected to ride the unbeaten Shared Belief in the CashCall Futurity on Dec. 14. Nakatani, 43, has three Grade 1 wins this year.

“Throughout the year, I’ve been looking to win these kind of races,” he said.

Nakatani has settled into the role of a big-race rider in recent years, but said that has not been by choice. He would prefer to be more active.

“I’d love to be leading rider, but you need opportunities to ride the races,” he said. “I don’t get the 1-5 shots in the race. I get the third-, fourth-, or fifth-best horse in the race.”

Nakatani began riding at Caliente in 1988 and was the leading apprentice jockey in Southern California in 1989. At the time, the jockeys’ room was led by Eddie Delahoussaye, Chris McCarron, and Laffit Pincay Jr., all of whom have retired, and Gary Stevens, who is still active. Bill Shoemaker was near retirement.

Nakatani said he benefited greatly from their expertise.

“How can anyone be better at getting a horse to come from behind than Delahoussaye?” he said. “How can anyone be better getting a horse to the wire than Pincay? Who had lighter hands than McCarron or Shoemaker?”

Nakatani, who through Wednesday had 3,660 career wins, rode Arethusa to an easy win by 8 1/4 lengths in the Sharp Cat Stakes on Nov. 16, the first time he rode the A.P. Indy filly.

“I know she’s going to be a nice horse to ride,” he said. “Her breeding is impeccable.”

Michael Catalano new shooter

Michael Catalano Jr., who has trained at Suffolk Downs and in Pennsylvania in the last year, will have a small stable in Southern California this winter.

Catalano, 45, claimed two horses last Sunday – Big Wags for $20,000 and Street Car for $8,000, both on behalf of James Shenovda. Catalano said last weekend that he made a trip to Southern California earlier this year to scout the racing circuit and decided to relocate.

“I flew out and said, ‘It’s not so bad out here,’ ” he said. “I went to the races every day. I thought about it. I said, ‘I’ll give it a shot.’ ”

Catalano, whose stable consisted mostly of claiming horses at Suffolk, is in the process of building his stable. He said last weekend it was unclear how many horses he would train.

“We have a couple of horses in Florida and we’re trying to buy a couple of horses,” he said. “It’d be nice to have a barn.”