Unbeaten Red Outlaw's next step unclear

DEL MAR, Calif. – Six starts into his career, Red Outlaw has six wins. He’ll be putting that unbeaten record on the line before this Del Mar meet ends, but whether it comes Sunday in the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes or next Saturday in the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby is a question trainer Peter Miller hadn’t quite worked out the answer to as of Thursday morning.

The races could not be more different. The Cary Grant, known as the On Trust Stakes when run at Hollywood Park, is a seven-furlong race on Polytrack for 3-year-olds and up, restricted to California-breds. Big Macher is the marquee name in the lineup. The Hollywood Derby is at 1 1/8 miles on turf and is expected to include California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, and Lexie Lou, the Queen’s Plate winner.

“The horse does everything – turf, synthetic, sprint, route,” Miller said of Red Outlaw. “So do we go straight 3-year-olds in the Derby or 3 and up? Do we go a mile and an eighth on turf or seven-eighths on Polytrack? There are pros and cons to both.”

Miller said he would not decide until Sunday morning, “probably right after California Chrome works on grass.”

California Chrome is scheduled to work on the turf here Sunday morning in his final drill for the Hollywood Derby. It will be his first work on turf.

Red Outlaw most recently won the Uniformity Stakes on the downhill turf course Oct. 19 at Santa Anita. He won twice here on Polytrack this summer.