Young prospects help take Hollendorfer's mind off dismal December

CYPRESS, Calif. – The new names are I’malreadythere and Seattle Serenade, a stakes-placed runner and a stylish winner from a stable known for producing many such horses.

I’malreadythere, a 2-year-old gelding, has been second or third in three consecutive stakes since early September. Seattle Serenade is unbeaten in two starts and is as promising a late-season 3-year-old as has been seen in Southern California in recent seasons.

Such prospects are the focus this month for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Otherwise, this is a December to forget. On Dec. 3, the stable’s leading older horse, Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, was euthanized after a severe attack of colic. He was rushed from Golden Gate Fields to the University of California-Davis that morning but could not be saved.

There will be a void in the stable for the foreseeable future, although an outpouring of condolences from the racing community has been welcomed, Hollendorfer said.

“People have been kind to us,” he said last weekend. “He was a great racehorse. The sadness doesn’t go away, but it helps that people are thinking about your horse. I think about it. I think that’s normal. These horses get to us.”

Hollendorfer, 69, has won more than 7,000 races and is constantly striving to add to that total. On Sunday, he was up early to tend to the stable at Santa Anita before a late-morning flight to Northern California for the races at Golden Gate Fields, where he had 11 runners on the nine-race program.

This weekend, the focus will be on running I’malreadythere in Saturday’s $350,000 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles.

Owned by the partnership of Steve Melen, Richard Robertson, Steve Taub, and Hollendorfer, I’malreadythere was purchased privately in late summer after winning a maiden race on turf at Gulfstream Park in August.

Hollendorfer recalls a short period of negotiations before the purchase.

“The owners looked at it, and we decided to buy,” Hollendorfer said.

Since joining Hollendorfer’s stable, I’malreadythere has been third in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf in September, second in the Zuma Beach Stakes on turf at Santa Anita in October, and third in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs on dirt at Del Mar in November.

Hollendorfer said I’malreadythere might want longer races.

“That might have been too short,” Hollendorfer said of the Bob Hope Stakes. “That’s what we’re thinking. He worked good on dirt, and we think he deserves a chance. We think he can do more than he’s shown.”

This is a good time to test a gelding such as I’malreadythere. The field for the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity does not include Nyquist, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31. Of the seven probable starters for the Los Alamitos Futurity, only one is a graded stakes winner – Toews On Ice in the Bob Hope Stakes.

I’malreadythere could develop into a candidate for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9 and the prep races for that Triple Crown prep in the coming months. At the same time, the stable has a strong prospect for 2016 in Seattle Serenade.

By Smart Strike, Seattle Serenade fought throughout a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 12 to win by a half-length. In an optional claimer at six furlongs at Los Alamitos last Friday, Seattle Serenade stalked the pace to early stretch and pulled away to win by an easy 6 1/4 lengths.

He ran the final furlong in 11.89 seconds without being urged by jockey Mike Smith.

“I think he ran the last quarter really nicely,” Hollendorfer said. “We think we can stretch him out.”

The promise that horses such as I’malreadythere and Seattle Serenade have shown encourages Hollendorfer. Even for a Hall of Fame trainer, it has been a trying month.