CAMINO DEL PARAISO IN GOOD HEALTH FOLLOWING ROLLING GREEN STAKES VICTORY
8-year-old California-bred gelding Camino Del Paraiso made his first start of 2021 a winning one, scoring a “stalk and pounce” victory in the $50,000 Rolling Green Stakes on Labor Day Monday at Golden Gate Fields. With the victory, Camino Del Paraiso picked up his third career stakes trophy and surpassed the $500,000 mark in career earnings.
Under jockey Catalino Martinez, Camino Del Paraiso out finished 3-year-old Jungle Cry and 24-1 longshot Harmon, stopping the clock for 8.5 furlongs in 1:42.70 and earning a 91 Beyer speed figure for his effort. Trainer O.J. Jauregui indicated Thursday morning that Camino Del Paraiso exited the Rolling Green Stakes in good order.
“He came out of the race really well,” said Jauregui. “He’s eating all of his food. His temperature is good, and his legs are good. He was a little tired right after the race, but he’s bounced out of it well and he’s got a good energy level right now.”
Camino Del Paraiso won the 2020 edition of the Rolling Green. Successfully defending his title meant a lot to Jauregui and owner Herb Moniz of Paradise Road Ranch LLC.
“We’re all just really happy he made it back to the races,” said Jauregui. “He had an eye injury [late last year] and we just wanted him to come out of that healthy.
He’s a really cool horse,” continued Jauregui. “When he works in the morning, he does all of it on his own. He’s very professional and easy to manage. In the barn, he’s a very kind horse. If we can win a couple more nice races with him, I would be really happy.”
So…when will Camino Del Paraiso race next? For now, his next start is yet to be determined.
“I’d like to run him [at Golden Gate] if there’s a race for him,” said Jauregui. “We’ll wait for the fall stakes schedule and then decide our next move. [Camino Del Paraiso] always lets us know when he’s ready. When he’s ready, we’ll have a spot for him.”
SPECHT REFLECTS ON MONDAY’S THREE-WIN DAY, JUNGLE CRY’S RUNNER UP FINISH
On Monday afternoon, longtime Bay Area trainer Steve Specht saddled three winners and a runner-up finisher from four starters. Not a bad day for any trainer, right?
“I’ve won three races many times, but I can never seem to win that fourth one,” chuckled Specht. “In all seriousness though..you can’t really ask for much more than that other than that I got beat in the stake. You gotta be in the right spots. You have to have your horses right, you have to get the right trip…there are a lot of factors [to having a multiple win day].”
Specht won the opener with 3-year-old filly Coastarando and, two races later, picked up his second win of the day with another 3-year-old filly named Mickey Dobbs. Both racers earned their maiden diplomas with the first-place finishes. Specht’s third winner’s circle appearance came with Miss Super Saint in Race 6, a starter allowance. Miss Super Saint won her fourth race in a row with Monday’s victory and, according to Specht, is “is doing better than ever.”
“She was always kind of a light filly that would be light on her feed for a day or two. Now, she’s gobbling up everything and she thinks she’s King Kong,” said Specht.
Miss Super Saint is an interesting case study. The daughter of Super Saver was a consistent, allowance-caliber athlete in 2018 and 2019. After taking a lengthy vacation from August 2019 to February of this year, Miss Super Saint sprinted four times on Tapeta and ran “average to subpar” in all four races. In her fifth start of the season, Specht changed things up and routed Miss Super Saint on turf. Since the aforementioned try going long, Miss Super Saint is unbeaten in four consecutive starts.
“[Routing her on turf] was a last-ditch try because she wasn’t putting as much effort into her sprint races when I brought her back [off a layoff],” said Specht. “We took one last shot with her and ran her on the grass. She had run once on the grass in an allowance before and got run down the last little bit. I thought, ‘Well, maybe we’ll send her to the lead and she’ll get brave.’ Well, it worked.”
Specht says confidence is a main component to the recent success of Miss Super Saint.
“You gotta get them in that winner’s circle,” noted Specht. “You wouldn’t think a horse would be able to know the difference but, believe me, you see it happen all the time. Horses get stale, they’ll be running close [to winning]…but then a [trainer] will drop them several levels lower, they’ll win, they’ll get their head picked up and then they’ll climb the class ladder again and start beating runners that were beating them. That’s sort of what happened with her. Especially with fillies and mares…when a filly gets good, there’s no telling how far they can go.”
In the Rolling Green Stakes, Specht campaigned 3-year-old gelding Jungle Cry against older foes. Jungle Cry, who won the Robert Dupret Derby in August, raced on the rail before challenging eventual winner Camino Del Paraiso in the final sixteenth of a mile. Jungle Cry came up a neck short in second, but Specht was extremely pleased with the effort from his star 3-year-old.
“[Jungle Cry] came out of the race in good shape,” said Specht. “He’s a good-looking horse-he’s small, not very big-but he goes about his business. He’s a quiet, little horse that always does what he’s supposed to. I’m real proud of him. He ran really well.”
Jungle Cry could race in Southern California next.
“We’ll take a look down south and see if there’s anything at Santa Anita for him,” said Specht. “I’d like to keep him on the grass. I think he’s pretty handy on the grass.”
BENCH JUDGE TRIES TAPETA, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IN SATURDAY NIGHTCAP
Claimed for $20,000 at Del Mar last month by trainer Jamey Thomas and owners Shiloh Hall, Ted Merrill, and Kevin Riggs, 5-year-old gelding Bench Judge faces first-level allowance company in one of the main events at Golden Gate this Saturday, Race 9. Bench Judge will be ridden by Santos Rivera for the first time.
“We claimed him with the intention of running him at Golden Gate,” said Thomas. “He is still eligible to win twice at the first-level [allowance] condition up here. He ran on turf in Southern California, but I think he should be OK on Tapeta. He worked over it last Saturday [September 4] and got over the track good. If he runs his best, I think we’ll be double tough.”
Most recently, Bench Judge ran fourth in a California-bred allowance sprint on grass. His last victory came at the aforementioned condition in March at Santa Anita.
Bench Judge was claimed off Del Mar’s leading trainer, Peter Miller. Coincidentally, Miller saddles a major contender in Saturday’s nightcap. Superman Shaq, owned by film producer Gary Barber, is a half sibling to champion racehorse Monomoy Girl and broke his maiden last year. He has failed to win in five starts since and ships north in search of a gold medal. The 9-5 morning line favorite is the Cliff DeLima trained War Games, coming off a runner up finish to next-out second level allowance winner In Our A. Two stars back, War Games defeated In Our A while earning a career high 92 Beyer speed figure.
CLAIMS REPORT
Below is a list of claims from last week:
Friday
Race 1: Hypersonic (New trainer Blaine Wright…new owner Lamonte Isom)
Race 4: Bowlmageddon (Owner/Trainer Andrew Nguyen)
Race 4: Nicole Grace (Pablo De Jesus…Cindy Winschell)
Saturday
Race 3: Ecologist (Ed Moger Jr…Steve Moger)
Race 5: Proof of Jazz (Jonathan Wong…Madden Racing)
Race 6: Rolinga (Ed Moger Jr…Steve Moger)
Sunday
Race 5: The Great Haynes (Andy Mathis…William Branch, Richard Catone and Mathis)
Monday
Race 7: Family Trips (Sergio Ledezma…Howard and Janet Siegel Racing LLC)
Race 9: Cocoa Cents (Isidro Tamayo…Leon Scott)
FINISH LINES: Race 8 on Saturday at Golden Gate is the marquee race of the day: a second level allowance for filly and mare turf routers. Among the entrants: stakes winner Blue Diva, Luther Burbank Stakes unofficial runner up finisher Clockstrikestwelve and recent first level allowance winners Fairy Tale Bliss, Time Voyage, and Tiz An Edventure…5-year-old gelding Silver Claim, undefeated at Golden Gate this year, continues his climb up the class ladder at Los Alamitos, where the son of Grade I placed mare Silver Swallow competes in a California-bred allowance race on Friday. Ricky Gonzalez rides for Jonathan Wong in Race 7…Happy birthday to jockey Leonel Camacho Flores, who celebrates next Wednesday…A jackpot pool begins anew in the Golden Pick 6 this Friday, with one sharp, single-ticket winner taking home a $22,210.64 jackpot hit on Monday.