Juvenile Turf: Coronet of a Baron's debut on surface

Coronet of a Baron is expected to make his turf debut in Saturday's $1omillion Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita after breezing five furlongs over the surface on Monday morning.

Working in company with stablemate African Diamond, Coronet of a Baron was timed in 1:02.80, working well off the inside rail, which is customary for turf workouts in Southern California.

After the workout, trainer Eoin Harty said Coronet of a Baron is likely to bypass the $2 million Juvenile on the main track for the turf race on the same day.

"He seemed to work over it really well," Harty said. "I wanted to see if he would relax off the other horse, and he did.

"I wanted to see if he liked it or not. Sometimes they run over it like they're running up and down hills. He didn't do that, but I'd rather see it in the morning and not Saturday afternoon."

Owned by Darley Stable, Coronet of a Baron has 1 victory in 3 starts, a maiden race at Arlington Park in July. He was second in two stakes at Del Mar, the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes and the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. Coronet of a Baron finished third in the Best Pal, but was promoted to second after a rival was disqualified. He lost the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity by a nose to BC Juvenile hopeful Midshipman.

The Juvenile Turf will be Coronet of a Baron's first start around two turns and first start over a mile.

The race is expected to have a full field. With Del Conte out with injury and Elusive Bluff and Mine That Bird expected to start in the BC Juvenile, the other probables for the Juvenile Turf are Bittel Road, City Style, Donativum, Grand Adventure, Ninth Client, Paddy the Pro, Relatively Ready, Skipadate, Star of David, Vaquero, and Westphalia.