Roy H galloping toward comeback attempt

ARCADIA, Calif. – Roy H, the champion sprinter of 2017 and 2018, has advanced to galloping on a daily basis at the San Luis Rey Training Center in an attempt at a comeback, trainer Peter Miller said on Sunday.

Roy H has not raced since a win in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita in January 2019. An 8-year-old gelding, Roy H was sent to Dubai for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen last March, but developed a foot abscess and was forced to miss the race.

“He’s galloped a few days and looking strong,” Miller said. “The foot is as good as it’s been in a year.”

Roy H had one workout in September before Miller abandoned plans for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last November, a race Roy H won in 2017 and 2018.

Owned by Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen, Roy H has won 10 of 23 starts and earned $3,139,765.

It’s Plan B for Queen Bee

Queen Bee to You, the winner of three consecutive stakes since mid-November, will have her next start in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 14 after the cancellation of Sunday’s $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes at Santa Anita.

“I’ll train her up to the race,” trainer Andrew Lerner said.

The Spring Fever Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs did not draw sufficient entries last Thursday.

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Owned by a partnership, Queen Bee to You won the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes at 1 1/16 miles by a nose over Der Lu on Jan. 11. Der Lu returned to win an optional claimer on Feb. 14.

In the shorter term, Lerner plans to start Rager in Saturday’s $100,000 Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf. Rager was second in the 5 1/2-furlong Baffle Stakes, a turf event for 3-year-olds on Feb. 7.

Baltas fined

Richard Baltas, the leading trainer at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, was fined $1,000 by track stewards earlier this month after one of his runners showed the presence of dexamethasone in a workout last November at Santa Anita.

Proverb underwent a workout on Nov. 25 to be removed from the veterinarian’s list. In order to be removed from the list, and allowed to resume racing, a horse must clear a post-workout medication test. Dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory, is not permitted to appear in such tests.

Proverb was fourth in an optional claimer on Jan. 4, his first start since October.