Pain and Misery, Where's the Moon to take separate paths

Pain and Misery and Where’s the Moon both could be headed to Southern California with different agendas following their one-two finish in the $55,000 Charles Taylor Derby last Saturday at The Downs at Albuquerque.

Pain and Misery won the one-mile race by 1 1/2 lengths over Where’s the Moon to give trainer Henry Dominguez a one-two finish in the meet’s main event for 3-year-olds. Dominguez said plans are to move Pain and Misery, who races for Black Gold Racing, back to turf, where in February he ran second by a neck in the Baffle Stakes at Santa Anita. Earlier this spring, the horse was second to Competitive Edge in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs.

“We were thinking about going back to the Midwest with him, but the horse will probably run in Southern California this summer,” Dominguez said. “There’s a stakes race for him opening day at Del Mar, the Oceanside. We can run him in there, see if he really improves on the grass there. He ran well at Santa Anita down the hill. That’s what we’re thinking.”

The $100,000 Oceanside, a one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds, is July 16 at Del Mar.

Pain and Misery was winning his second stakes in the Charles Taylor Derby, following a score in the $55,000 Governor’s Cup in October at Zia Park. Pain and Misery in March was third to Firing Line in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby.

Where’s the Moon, the runner-up in the Sunland Derby and the winner of the track’s $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby in February, has a number of options for his next start, said Dominguez. They range from the Ohio Derby or Iowa Derby to the Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita.

“We’re still debating on him, whether he travels to California,” Dominguez said. “There’s a race out there, a mile on the grass. He’s a Malibu Moon horse, and they seem to run on the grass. He can either go there, go to Prairie Meadows, or go to Ohio. We’re going to try to keep them both separated.”

Scat Means Go to Santa Anita

The $75,000 Singletary on June 20 is being run the same day as the Grade 2, $200,000 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita, which is the target for the Dominguez-trained Scat Means Go. She was third in the Grade 3 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs in her last start May 1 and before that was placed second in the $200,240 Sunland Park Oaks. She is owned by J. Kirk and Judy Robison, who also race Where’s the Moon.

Dominguez plans to have a 10- to 15-horse division at Del Mar this summer, which has become a recent tradition for the stable. He said part of the appeal is the incentives offered for horses who have been running out of state.

Dominguez will be active Saturday at Albuquerque, when he runs the Robisons’ Isn’t He Clever in the $150,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap. The 1 1/8-mile race has drawn a field of eight, including Texas Air, the winner of the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park in his last start May 1, and Ol Winedrinker Who, who captured a highly rated allowance May 25 at Albuquerque.

Wine Police, another top horse for the Robisons and Dominguez, has recently resumed training and is being pointed for races like the Premiere Cup and Lea County Stakes this fall at Zia Park, said Dominguez. The horse last raced Dec. 6 and was second by a neck in the $50,000 KLAQ Handicap at Sunland.