Roadster, Game Winner work at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – On a crucial Friday morning of Kentucky Derby training, jockey Martin Garcia was a key member of trainer Bob Baffert’s team at Santa Anita.

In a little more than an hour, Garcia served as exercise rider for two of Baffert’s leading hopes for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4. At 6:30, Roadster, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, worked six furlongs in 1:13.80. At 7:45, Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male of 2018 who was second in the Santa Anita Derby, worked seven furlongs in 1:27.

Both worked in company with stablemates who were left behind in the final stages of the workout. Garcia is not riding the Kentucky Derby – he will be at Santa Anita next weekend – but had a message of confidence for Joel Rosario, who will ride Game Winner, and Florent Geroux, who has the mount on Roadster.

“When I kept going with Roadster and Game Winner, they kicked on,” Garcia said. “I was more impressed with the way they galloped out. They were relaxed. I don’t see any issue for who is riding the horses. The horses can do whatever you want.”

Garcia elegantly deflected the question of which horse he would ride, given the chance.

“It’s hard to say,” Garcia said.

Omaha Beach, who won the Arkansas Derby on April 13, Game Winner and Roadster are expected to dominate the betting in the Kentucky Derby. Baffert also runs Improbable, who was second in the Arkansas Derby and is already at Churchill Downs.

Baffert spoke confidently after watching Roadster and Game Winner work and was particularly enthusiastic after watching Game Winner.

“He’s really coming around,” Baffert said. “I’m glad we got through that.

“That’s the best work he’s had all year long.”

Game Winner worked in company with Show Me Da Lute, and was on the inside of the pair throughout.

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The workout began at the five-eighths pole. Game Winner reached the finish line in 1:00.40 and ran an additional quarter-mile, to the six-furlong pole. Show Me Da Lute worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 under jockey Drayden Van Dyke.

Garcia radioed Baffert after the workout saying Game Winner was not breathing hard, which did not surprise Baffert despite the deep nature of the Santa Anita surface. Baffert said Game Winner was fit.

“He shouldn’t be blowing,” Baffert said.

Owned by Gary and Mary West, Game Winner is winless in two starts this year, finishing second by a nose to Omaha Beach in a division of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 16 and second by a half-length to Roadster in the Santa Anita Derby.

Clockers gave Roadster a six-furlong time from the five-eighths pole to the seven-eighths pole, a furlong after the finish line. Stablemate Once On Whiskey was timed in 1:01.20, with his workout ending at the finish line under Van Dyke.

“He handled it pretty well,” Baffert said of Roadster. “I was hoping the other horse would have stayed with him a little longer.

“That’s one thing about this horse – he’ll get a mile and a quarter. The good ones can handle this deep track.”

Owned by Speedway Stable, Roadster is unbeaten in two starts this year, having won his 2019 debut in an optional claimer at a mile on March 1.

“I think the Santa Anita Derby got him fit,” Baffert said. “After that, I could see a big change in him.”

About the same time Game Winner was working, Bellafina, the favorite for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday, worked five furlongs 1:01 under jockey Flavien Prat. Bellafina won the Santa Anita Oaks on April 6 in her final prep race and is unbeaten in three starts this year.

“She’s got such a good platform and she hasn’t missed any training,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “We don’t need to do too much now.”

Vekoma, Cutting Humor, and Spinoff work in Florida

At Churchill Downs, overnight rain from Thursday into Friday caused trainer Richard Mandella to postpone by one day a final work for Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach.

At the Palm Beach Downs training center in South Florida, Blue Grass winner Vekoma worked for trainer George Weaver, and two-time Derby winner Todd Pletcher gave his duo of Cutting Humor and Spinoff their final drills.

Vekoma was timed by Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch going five furlongs in 59.83 seconds. Weaver said he had Vekoma in “59 and change, and he galloped out six furlongs.”

Vekoma worked in company, with his Derby jockey, Javier Castellano, aboard.

“He went really well,” Weaver said by phone from Florida. “Javier was happy, and I’m happy.”

Vekoma trained at Palm Beach all winter, and returned there after the Blue Grass at Keeneland.

“My initial gut instinct was to stay in Kentucky, but I started thinking about it, and he’s used to Palm Beach Downs, used to the track,” said Weaver. “It’s a quiet place to train, and the weather in Kentucky can be kind of shaky.”

Weaver said another major reason Vekoma came back to Florida was that his wife, Cindy, gets on Vekoma every morning and had other horses to gallop at Palm Beach Downs.

“So we’ve basically tried to repeat all the things we did leading up to the Blue Grass,” Weaver said. “There were pros and cons to either going back to Palm Beach Downs or staying in Kentucky, but the more I thought about it this seemed to make the most sense, and I’m very happy with the decision.”

Cutting Humor, working alone, went a half-mile in 48 seconds, then, according to Pletcher, galloped out another three furlongs. Spinoff went in company and was timed in 1:00.70 for five furlongs, also followed by a gallop-out.

Pletcher said Spinoff went in company because “he’s a little more laid back in his works and his daily routine,” and Pletcher wanted to make sure he got something out of this drill.

Cutting Humor, Pletcher said, had two sharp recent works, and “is more willing in his daily gallops,” so this was more maintenance.

“Spinoff needed a touch more,” Pletcher said by phone from Florida.

Cutting Humor, Spinoff, and Vekoma are on the same flight Tuesday from Florida to Kentucky.

– additional reporting by Jay Privman