Prince Abu Dhabi not likely to hit road, trainer says

Prince Abu Dhabi remained unbeaten after four starts with a half-length win in Saturday’s $101,800 California Derby on the synthetic main track at Golden Gate Fields.

The win is unlikely to lead to a road trip for Prince Abu Dhabi. Trainer Blaine Wright said on Sunday that Prince Abu Dhabi will be strongly considered for the $75,000 Alcatraz Stakes at a mile on turf on May 28.

“There is a big benefit in running out of your own stall,” Wright said.

The Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on June 4 is less likely.

“Those are pretty deep waters down there,” Wright said of the Southern California circuit.

Prince Abu Dhabi has won two sprints and two races at two turns in his career. In the California Derby at 1 1/16 miles, Prince Abu Dhabi closed from last in a field of nine to take the lead in the final sixteenth.

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“It was super, super gratifying,” Wright said of the win.

Wright said he has seen mental improvement of late from Prince Abu Dhabi, who ran erratically at times in an allowance race at six furlongs in February in his first start of the year.

“He was all over the place,” Wright said.

A start on turf in the Alcatraz would be an experiment.

By Palace Malice, Prince Abu Dhabi is out of American Girl, an Irish-bred mare who won twice on turf at Monmouth Park and Parx Racing in 2015. American Girl is by High Chaparral, who won the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita in a dead heat with Johar.

“He’s bred a bit for the turf,” Wright said.

Prince Abu Dhabi has earned $115,200 from his four wins. He was purchased for $8,000 as a yearling by the father-son team of Steve and Lance Kinross of St. George, Utah.

Chase the Chaos was eighth as the 2-1 favorite in the California Derby, a comprehensive loss that surprised trainer Ed Moger, Jr.

“He couldn’t have looked any better in the paddock,” Moger said on Sunday. “It’s not like he got nervous. He didn’t run.”

Chase the Chaos earned a fees-paid berth to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20 for winning the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in February. The two tracks are owned by 1/ST Racing.

Moger said a trip to Pimlico remains a possibility despite the loss in the California Derby and a seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 4.

“It’s on the backburner right now, trying to decide what to do,” Moger said. “He didn’t kick in, the same thing that happened at Santa Anita.”

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