Smith's murderer's row of Saratoga mounts work

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Mike Smith was out early Monday morning at Del Mar to watch Arrogate in his final drill for Saturday’s Pacific Classic, but the morning also included a showcase for two of the horses he will be riding the following Saturday, Aug. 26, at Saratoga, as both West Coast and American Anthem continued to train forwardly for the Travers card.

West Coast is headed to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers itself. He worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 under jockey Martin Garcia, who reported to Baffert via radio after the work that West Coast was “not even blowing. Nada.”

American Anthem, also with Garcia, worked earlier in the morning and went five furlongs in 1:00.80 while tuning up for the Grade 1, $500,000 Allen Jerkens – formerly the King’s Bishop – at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds.

Smith has a sensational lineup of California-based horses for the Travers card. In addition to those two, he also will ride Drefong for Baffert in the Grade 1, $600,000 Forego for sprinters and Songbird in the Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign for females.

Drefong worked a half-mile from the gate Saturday morning, a move that Baffert said was done to get him off the starter’s list following his disastrous run in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 29, when he ducked in soon after the start, dislodging Smith.

Baffert said the work – a half-mile in 48.80 – went as planned and that Drefong was on course for the Forego.

The Bing Crosby was the first start for Drefong since his win in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last fall at Santa Anita, which secured him the Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter of 2016. His main goal this year is a title defense in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 4 here at Del Mar.

The Forego will bring Drefong back to the site of the track where he won the Grade 1 King’s Bishop last summer.

Songbird, who had been nominated to the Pacific Classic, was officially ruled out of that race and in the Personal Ensign after she worked five furlongs in 1:01 early Sunday morning at Del Mar for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Del Mar’s clockers labeled the work breezing, the only work so denoted among the 230 drills on both dirt and turf Sunday.