Trujillo takes a shot in Luther Burbank with pair of sharp claimers
Trainer Victor Trujillo admits that the $50,000 Luther Burbank Handicap on Saturday at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa is an ambitious spot for his entrants Wicked Old Fashion and Charming Starlet. Both are on winning streaks, but neither has been facing anything resembling stakes company.
“If you’re going to run them over their heads, you do it when they’re sharp,” Trujillo said.
But Trujillo’s mares may not be outclassed in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares, carded as race 8 on a nine-race card. First post is 4:15 p.m. Pacific.
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Only one horse in the field of nine has won a stakes – Bella Luma – and most in the field have been facing claimers or conditioned allowance types.
Charming Starlet, fifth in the 2017 Luther Burbank, was claimed for $10,000 by Trujillo for Norman Tavares out of a win over the Golden Gate Tapeta in May. In her only start since, she won a $25,000 claimer over the turf at Golden Gate.
Wicked Old Fashion is riding a four-race win streak that began for a $12,500 tag last summer at Santa Rosa and has extended to a victory in a first-level allowance June 1 over the Golden Gate turf.
Bella Luma won the Golden Poppy on the turf at Golden Gate last year, but hasn’t been at her best lately. In her last three starts, she finished seventh in this year’s Golden Poppy, seventh in the Fran’s Valentine on turf at Santa Anita, and fourth and last in the Dream of Summer against statebreds on the main track at Santa Anita.
Trainer Manny Badilla has entered two runners in the Luther Burbank – Renny’s Lady and Ziarah, both of whom were purchased and brought to the United States by Ronald Charles and Samuel Gordon.
“I thought this was better than taking them to Del Mar,” Badilla said.
Ziarah ran second and Renny’s Lady third in a second-level optional claimer on the turf June 9 at Golden Gate, the last start for both.
Ficanas stretches out off a series of turf sprints against tough optional-claiming company. Trained by John Sadler, Ficanas won a maiden turf sprint and an optional-claiming turf sprint at Santa Anita over the winter. She comes off a third-place finish, beaten a neck, in an optional-claiming turf sprint at Churchill Downs.