A Day in the Life of a Kentucky Derby Horse
Fans watch the horses break from the starting gate at Golden Gate Fields, which on Saturday will host the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby. (Vassar Photography)
Northern California racing steps into the national spotlight Saturday on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve as Golden Gate Fields hosts the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby.
The El Camino Real Derby offers Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 10-4-3-2-1 basis and, as usual, drew a couple of shippers from Southern California to compete against the locally based Derby hopefuls. In addition to 10 Derby points, the winner of the El Camino Real receives an automatic entry to the 2023 Preakness Stakes May 20 at Pimlico.
The race, which is held at 1 1/8 miles on Golden Gate’s synthetic Tapeta Footings track, was first held in 1982 and has been run at Golden Gate since 2009. Notable winners from years past include Tank’s Prospect (1985), Snow Chief (1986), Sea Cadet (1991), Tabasco Cat (1994), Cavonnier (1996), and 2021 winner Rombauer, who subsequently won the Preakness Stakes.
This year’s renewal will be televised live by FanDuel TV with a scheduled post time of 7:45 p.m. ET.
Read on for information about all of the El Camino Real Derby contenders.
1. Gilmore
Jockey: Jose Valdivia Jr.
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Career record: 2 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third
Career earnings: $36,600
Earnings per start: $18,300
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 89
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Twirling Candy – My Surfer Girl, by Henny Hughes
Color: Gray or roan
Running style: Press the pace/stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: The first of two El Camino Real Derby starters owned by a familiar conglomerate and trained by Bob Baffert enters off of a sharp four-length win in a one-mile race back on Dec. 10 at Los Alamitos. In addition to Nullarbor, these owners also campaign Reincarnate and Newgate, both of whom have recently won Derby prep races at Santa Anita Park. However, all four of these horses are ineligible to earn qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby due to Churchill Downs’ ongoing ban of Baffert-trained runners from this year’s classic on May 6. They will have to be transferred to other trainers by Feb. 28 and then run again – and run well – in upcoming Derby preps to secure enough points to make the run for the roses. Taking that into account, it seems more likely that Baffert and these owners are looking to lock up a Preakness berth on Saturday, hopefully sending Gilmore or Nullarbor to a race Baffert is not barred from running his horses in and has won a record-tying seven times. Gilmore has overcome some trouble to finish second and then first in his two starts and is a logical win candidate in the El Camino Real and an even better bet to hit the board for his Hall of Fame trainer, who won this race way back in 1996 with subsequent Kentucky Derby runner-up Cavonnier, and more recently, in 2020 with Azul Coast and last year with Blackadder. Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. won the 2013 El Camino Real aboard Dice Flavor.
Bet Gilmore in the El Camino Real Derby
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2. Chase the Chaos
Jockey: Armando Ayuso
Trainer: Ed Moger Jr.
Owners: Adam Ference and Bill Dory
Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third
Career earnings: $63,000
Earnings per start: $12,600
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Astern – Live the Moment, by Uncle Mo
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: A locally based gelding, Chase the Chaos comes into Saturday’s race off of his career-best effort. On Dec. 30, he romped in a one-mile allowance-optional claiming race on this synthetic track and earned a 95 Equibase Speed Figure, tied for the best in the El Camino Real field. He made his first two starts in the Midwest for trainer Robertino Diodoro and broke his maiden on turf at Canterbury Park before transferring to Ed Moger and moving west for his subsequent three starts at Golden Gate – and he’s hit the board in all three. Chase the Chaos could be overlooked at the mutuel windows in favor of Harcyn and the two Baffert entrants, but he is worthy of consideration as an exacta and/or trifecta filler based on his affinity for the Tapeta surface and his pedigree (he’s a relative of millionaire turf router Mister Marti Gras).
Bet Chase the Chaos in the El Camino Real Derby
3. Happy Does
Jockey: Santos Rivera
Trainer: Felix Rondan
Owner: Gray Farms
Career record: 7 starts – 3 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds
Career earnings: $85,256
Earnings per start: $12,179
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 90
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Southern Image – Handfull, by Comic Strip
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Stalker/closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Another local contender, Happy Does has made his last four starts on the Tapeta track at Golden Gate and run well in three of them with two wins and a runner-up effort. In his most recent start, he rallied to take an allowance-optional claiming race by a half-length on Jan. 21, defeating only four opponents. Jockey Santos Rivera has been aboard Happy Does for all seven career starts and should have him in a midpack position through the backstretch before angling him out on the turn for a closing charge. This son of Santa Anita Derby winner Southern Image has been consistent so far in his career but takes a backseat to several others in the El Camino Real Derby based on class and speed figures and is thus an outsider as a win candidate.
Bet Happy Does in the El Camino Real Derby
Vassar Photography
4. Passarando
Jockey: Frank Alvarado
Trainer: Steve Specht
Owners: Larry and Marianne Williams
Career record: 8 starts – 4 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third
Career earnings: $240,830
Earnings per start: $30,104
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 95
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Tamarando – I’m Passing Ya Now, by Lucky Pulpit
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: By far the highest earner in the El Camino Real field, Passarando has assembled a very good start to his racing career traveling up and down the Golden State. He’s already competed in five stakes races, boasting a record of twos wins, one second, and one third, and both of those stakes wins have come on Golden Gate Fields’ Tapeta surface. Two starts back, Passarando rolled through the stretch to win the one-mile Gold Rush Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths over Chase the Chaos on Dec. 3. He followed that up with a decent effort going 1 1/16 miles on dirt at Santa Anita Park when third in the Jan. 7 California Cup Derby. Based on his past performances, this gelding prefers synthetic, and that plus a solid pedigree makes him a win threat in Saturday’s race. Trainer Steve Specht, currently winning at a 23% clip at Golden Gate, won the 2017 El Camino Real with Zakaroff.
Bet Passarando in the El Camino Real Derby
5. Harcyn
Jockey: William Antongeorgi III
Trainer: Steve Sherman
Owner: Jerry Moss
Career record: 2 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds
Career earnings: $36,600
Earnings per start: $18,300
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 88
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Goldencents – Florian, by Street Cry
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Pacesetter
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Harcyn stands out from the rest of the El Camino Real Derby field in three respects: 1) he’s the only unbeaten starter, albeit only through two career starts; 2) he’s the projected front-runner in a race that, aside from Nullarbor, lacks early speed; and 3) his dam (mother) is a half-sister to Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and Santa Anita Derby winner and Belmont Stakes third-place finisher Tiago (both co-owned by Harcyn’s owner-breeder Jerry Moss). Both of Harcyn’s wins have come at Golden Gate on the front end in six-furlong sprints – most recently by 3 ¾ lengths on Jan. 16 – and while he’ll have to extend that speed around two turns for the first time Saturday while facing a couple of Bob Baffert trainees, his pedigree suggests that won’t be a problem. He’s the crucial pace factor in the El Camino Real at the very least, and a leading win candidate. Jerry Moss, the retired music industry executive who is most famous for co-owning Zenyatta, also co-owned 1988 El Camino Real Derby winner Ruhlmann.
Bet Harcyn in the El Camino Real Derby
6. In Honor of Autism
Jockey: Evin Roman
Trainer: Jonathan Wong
Owner: Johnny Taboada
Career record: 5 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 2 thirds
Career earnings: $40,680
Earnings per start: $8,136
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 82
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Stanford – Natural Singer R N, by Unbridled’s Song
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: This charitably-named colt will be trying two turns for the first time in the El Camino Real Derby after racing once at 4 ½ furlongs, twice at 5 ½ furlongs, and twice at six furlongs on the Tapeta synthetic surface, winning one time at each distance. His best race is his most recent on Dec. 30, when he closed strongly to win a six-furlong starter allowance race by 1 ¾ lengths. In Honor of Autism only earned a 82 Equibase Speed Figure in that win, however, which was the best of his career by 10 points but considerably lower than most of his foes in Saturday’s race. He’ll be one of the longest shots in the field come post time and would have to run a career-best race at a distance he’s never tried, plus have several other contenders misfire in order to pull the upset. On the plus side, Jonathan Wong is the runaway leader in the Golden Gate trainer standings so far this meet, with 20 wins and more than $335,000 in earnings through Feb. 8.
Bet In Honor of Autism in the El Camino Real Derby
7. Sea Dog
Jockey: Francisco Monroy
Trainer: O. J. Jauregui
Owner: Paradise Road Ranch
Career record: 5 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 1 third
Career earnings: $22,190
Earnings per start: $4,438
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 88
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Midshipman – Giant’s Account, by Giant’s Causeway
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Sea Dog should carry the longest odds in the El Camino Real Derby when the starting gates open Saturday evening, as he’s yet to win in four starts on the Tapeta surface. His only win came back in October on dirt on the fair circuit at Fresno, and he made little impression in his three 2022 starts at Golden Gate before taking a month and a half off. He did run better in his 3-year-old debut, finishing third by 1 ¼ lengths in a one-mile allowance on Jan. 21 that was won by Happy Does. Sea Dog’s post-time odds in that race facing four foes were 28.90-1 and he will be in that same neighborhood – or higher – in Saturday’s big class test. Filling out the superfecta appears to be his ceiling against this group.
Bet Sea Dog in the El Camino Real Derby
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8. Nullarbor
Jockey: Assael Espinoza
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Career record: 3 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 0 thirds
Career earnings: $26,200
Earnings per start: $8,733
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 82
Kentucky Derby points: 0
Pedigree: Candy Ride – Katherine, by Distorted Humor
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Nullarbor joins Gilmore as bookend El Camino Real Derby contenders in the starting gate for top-line SoCal connections. The son of Candy Ride was well-beaten in both of his starts as a juvenile last summer-fall, showing early speed in a sprint at Del Mar and a one-mile route at Santa Anita Park but tiring badly in both, but his return to the track after a break of nearly three months was something else entirely. Nullarbor came back in a six-furlong maiden race Jan. 6 at Santa Anita and this time extended his early speed all the way to the finish line, scoring by a widening 3 ¾ lengths against nine opponents. That effort bodes well for Saturday’s class jump, although he only earned an 83 Equibase Speed Figure, which is around 10 points lower than what should be required to win this race. This colt comes from a family that boasts some serious class, as his second dam (maternal grandmother) is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Dream Rush and a close relative to two-time champion and recent superstar Malathaat. He’ll face a formidable early threat in Harcyn and a talented stablemate in Gilmore who could cause some off-the-pace trouble in the stretch, but Nullarbor is a logical win candidate in what shapes up to be a well-matched renewal of the El Camino Real Derby and a good betting race.
Bet Nullarbor in the El Camino Real Derby
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