My Winter Vacation

March 9, 2011 - If you have ever heard of a working vacation, this was it. I was definitely working, but while visiting places I would gladly go while on vacation. The destinations were South Florida and New Orleans during the last week of February to talk to horsemen about the upcoming $800,000 Sunland Park Derby.

I spent two days in the vicinity of Gulfstream Park. We think the weather is bright in the Southwest, but in February, the Florida sun is a lot closer to the earth. Logistically, covering the area is a challenge. There are stalls at Gulfstream and Calder, which is about 30 minutes away. But many of the top outfits are stabled at Palm Meadows, about 40 miles to the north. Still others use Payson Park, several more miles up the coast.

I spent most of my time at Palm Meadows, which is home to many barns blessed with good 3-year-olds, such as Nick Zito, Todd Pletcher, Carl Nafzger, Kelly Breen, Kiaran McLaughlin, Ken McPeek, and others. It is a big facility, more than 300 acres. There is nothing that feels cramped about it, and I can see why many horsemen prefer it to the alternatives. They were preparing for the 2-year-old in training sale when I was there, but even with that increased activity, things did not seem as frantic they do on the main track of many racetracks.

When trainers at this level have a horse they deem good enough for Grade 1, million dollar races, such as the Florida Derby or Louisiana Derby, they aren’t going to be swayed. But several outfits have more than one prospect, sometimes for the same owner, and bumping heads for the same pot isn’t always appealing. Hopefully, that brings the Sunland Derby into play.

Some have run horses here, or in Nafzger’s case, started his training career in the Southwest. But others seem to view the area as a foreign destination. One even likened it to Dubai. Never mind that Sunland is only two times zones from Florida instead of half a day, and so far, a passport is not needed. Another wanted to bet me that the race is not graded.

It may sound extreme, but those are the type of humps that Sunland must get over in order to be a main attraction for eastern horsemen. But at the same time, today’s Kentucky Derby chase is as much about accumulating graded earnings as it is about conditioning and bringing a horse to the race in the right way. If you don’t get the earnings to crack the field, all the preparation in the world won’t help.

I’m not sure Nick Zito has the depth to send a horse here this year, but I expect serious consideration from others, including Breen and Pletcher, who has about seven head that could fit. Breen ran Nacho Friend at Sunland last year and has three potential participants, including Nacho Business who was a strong second at Gulfstream on February 26. Besides, Kelly loves the Mexican food.

Nafzger supplemented a colt named Beamer, who is intended for the Tampa Bay Derby this weekend. But Carl wants to avoid another off track, and should something not suit him at Tampa, I promised him a fast track at Sunland. Beamer is owned by Jim Tafel, who gave Nafzger his second Kentucky Derby winner with Street Sense in 2007.

This was my first visit to Gulfstream since the adjoining retail and restaurant area was completed. It is very different from the Gulfstream I once knew, but it is interesting to be able to walk from the shopping center into the back of the Gulfstream grandstand. In fact, there were a lot of things I liked about the new plant, but the paddock is not one of them.

Unless you are watching on TV, you hardly see horses until riders up. Saddling takes place in a tunnel away from public view. And since the weather is usually good, there are a lot of fans lining the walking ring. There are several other tracks, like Santa Anita, that only use the walking ring for a brief period. But if someone is intent on watching horses saddle in person, there is a way to do it. Not here.

Then it was on to New Orleans and a visit to the Fair Grounds. I had the pleasure of producing the Louisiana Derby for ESPN for about 17 years and not surprisingly, New Orleans became one of our favorite stops on the tour. One of my main targets was Al Stall, trainer of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame.

You may have read about Stall’s 3-year-old named Bind. He broke his maiden by nine in February and looks to be any kind. I saw him in the barn, and he is indeed impressive. But he won’t be rushed, and Stall says there is no intention of running him in the Kentucky Derby.

However, the duo of Left and Sour, both owned by Blame’s connections, are possibilities. They ran one-two in an allowance race on Feb. 26. The victorious Left will probably point for the Louisiana Derby, but Stall might want to separate them and he told me the Sunland derby is definitely an option.

Neil Howard, who trained Horse of the Year Mineshaft a few seasons back, had three nominated and gave me two more names as supplements while I was there. His top prospects are Machen and Wilkinson, and the hope is that he will prefer Sunland over the Rebel at Oaklawn for whichever colt does not target the Louisiana Derby.

In all, it was a whirlwind trip. But when you think about it, isn’t it better to spend a day around top horses and horsemen than a week somewhere else?