Tribal Jewel brings consistency to Thursday mile feature
ARCADIA, Calif. – Want diversity? It would be hard to find a more dissimilar field than the six older horses entered in the best race Thursday at Santa Anita.
Two are first-time geldings, two return from long layoffs, the potential pacesetter comes off successive last-place finishes, and the high-speed-figure horse could be one of the longest shots in the field of a second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claiming race at one mile.
Want reliability? Tribal Jewel, the only runner entered for the optional claiming tag, keeps marching on. A seven-time winner, Tribal Jewel makes the 37th start of his career as the horse to beat in race 4.
“He breezed so well the other day,” trainer Richard Baltas said, referring to a five-furlong work in 1:00. His recent races are not bad either. Though he lost a $50,000 claiming race last out by more than 15 lengths, Tribal Jewel salvaged second. Previous races on Jan. 22 and Nov. 28 are among the recent best by any in the field.
Baltas also entered Rockport Kat, whose recent form is muddled. However, a rider switch to Edwin Maldonado suggests a front-running strategy. “He doesn’t like being behind horses,” Baltas said. “Edwin breezed him; maybe he can wake him up.”
Tribal Jewel’s main competition Thursday includes two comebackers believed to be ready to fire – Whiskey Ticket, a Grade 3 winner making his first start since June for Bob Baffert, and the recently gelded Conquest Cobra, making his first start since July and his first for trainer Vladimir Cerin.
Ground Rules is the other first-time gelding; El Huerfano finished third last out with a 90 Beyer Speed Figure that is the highest last-start figure in the field.
KEY CONTENDERS
Tribal Jewel
Last 3 Beyers: 81-84-79
◗ Tribal Jewel is reunited with Rafael Bejarano, who is 2 for 2 on the gelding. Bejarano and Baltas are the top trainer-jockey combination at this meet (9 for 32) despite two weeks of frustration – the last 10 Bejarano-Baltas runners produced one win and seven seconds.
◗ The horse Tribal Jewel finished second behind last out, Toledo Eddie, was sold privately and is now based in New York with trainer David Jacobson.
Whiskey Ticket
Last 3 Beyers: 75-94-91
◗ Whiskey Ticket won his career debut last March around two turns, followed by the Grade 3 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. He has not started since finishing last in the Ohio Derby in June at ThistleDown.
◗ Baffert believes Whiskey Ticket is fit for his comeback. His six-furlong workout March 11 was in company with Cupid, who came out of the work to win the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes eight days later at Oaklawn Park. Regular rider Martin Pedroza has the call.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Whiskey Ticket. Trainer Bob Baffert is 26-10-2-3 with a $3.82 ROI over the past five years in dirt routes following a layoff of 180 days or more. – Mike Hogan
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Conquest Cobra
Last 3 Beyers: 72-84-83
◗ Purchased for $57,000 at a November auction, Conquest Cobra was gelded by Cerin and posted a series of solid workouts for his first start since July.
“He’s trained really, really well,” Cerin said. “He’s a little horse, but it looks like he can motor.” Flavien Prat has worked Conquest Cobra and rides him.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Conquest Cobra. Trainer Vladimir Cerin is 13-1-3-0 with a $0.98 ROI over the past five years following a trainer switch and a layoff of 120 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Ground Rules
Last 3 Beyers: 80-58-85
◗ After successive subpar races, trainer Cliff Sise gelded Ground Rules. What was the objective? “It was to try and get him more focused,” Sise said. “His last four works have been real good.” Sise said a six-furlong workout March 18 was not recorded.
◗ Kent Desormeaux worked Ground Rules on March 25 and told Sise he was “more focused.”