Idol brings burgeoning talent – and a good back story – to San Pasqual

Every 20 years, it seems that trainer Richard Baltas and owner Calvin Nguyen acquire a future stakes horse by unconventional means. The latest is Idol, a lightly raced colt favored to win the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Baltas and Nguyen got lucky once in the San Pasqual, in 2001. Freedom Crest, plucked from a $32,000 maiden-claiming race a year and a half earlier, gave trainer and owner each his first career stakes win. Twenty years on, Baltas and Nguyen are getting lucky again with another horse who started with a different owner.

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Idol faces four rivals Saturday in the 1 1/8-mile San Pasqual; a win could stamp him as the favorite for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6. Idol’s rivals in the $200,000 San Pasqual include shipper King Guillermo, locally based Express Train, and longshots Zestful and Tizamagician.

Runner-up last out in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 San Antonio, Idol should relish the 1 1/8-mile distance of the San Pasqual.

“The farther, the better,” Baltas said. “He really wants a mile and a quarter.”

Idol was sired by Curlin and produced by an A.P. Indy mare, and distance never was an issue. The challenge was finding an owner to pay the bills. Idol had sold for $375,000 as a yearling, but the transaction was not completed.

Things got more complicated in fall. Idol got away from his exercise rider in an early work at San Luis Rey Downs. The 2-year-old blazed three furlongs in 35.20 seconds, a half in 47, and came out of the work with bucked shins. His ownership remained uncertain.

“I really liked the horse,” Baltas said. “I said to Calvin, he has a touch of a shin, but he could be any kind of horse. I showed him the horse, and said you can probably buy him [from the sales company] for the hammer price.”

Nguyen, whose business success allowed for more expensive and potentially better horses, worked out a deal with the sales company and took ownership of Idol. But shin problems persisted, and Baltas finally recommended turning Idol out.

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He resumed training in summer 2020, and by September was ready to begin his career. The 3-year-old Idol shipped to Churchill Downs for a maiden race on Sept. 5, Kentucky Derby Day, finished second, and never looked back. Idol’s next three starts were a maiden sprint win and allowance route smasher in Kentucky, followed by his San Antonio runner-up.

His most recent start was better than the half-length loss margin indicates. He made a premature move into the far turn, dropped back briefly at the quarter pole, and re-rallied inside. Gabriel Saez, currently based at Fair Grounds, rides him again Saturday.

King Guillermo arrived Sunday from Florida. Winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and fourth last out in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, King Guillermo will stay in California for the Big Cap. Trainer Juan Avila expects improvement from his last start.

“He was not ready for the Cigar Mile,” Avila said. “Now, he’s ready.”