Roy H drills for Palos Verdes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Roy H, the champion sprinter of 2017 who is a finalist for the same award for 2018, worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 at the San Luis Rey Downs training center on Wednesday for the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes here on Jan. 19.

Trainer Peter Miller timed Roy H galloping out seven furlongs in 1:26. Miller described the workout as a breeze.

A winner of 9 of 22 starts and $3,019,765, Roy H won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 for the second consecutive year.

Owned by David Bernsen and Rockingham Ranch, Roy H is a candidate for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai on March 30, a race in which he was third last year.

Miller plans to send Stormy Liberal to Dubai for the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint on turf. Stormy Liberal finished second in the Grade 3 Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course on Jan. 1 in his first start since a repeat win in the BC Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.

Miller blamed himself for Stormy Liberal’s recent defeat. Stormy Liberal finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Caribou Club as the 9-10 favorite.

“I’ll take the blame for that loss,” he said. “He was undertrained. I babied him after the Breeders’ Cup. That was trainer error.”

Stormy Liberal was second in the 2018 Al Quoz Sprint.