Following a scary incident at the top of the stretch in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway Park March 22, trainer Thomas Drury Jr. was happy to report California Burrito emerged from the race in good order.
"We're so blessed that everything's fine," Drury Jr. said March 23. "The good news is, as of this morning, he looks to be very sound. He was quiet—he ran hard and was tired—but absolutely nothing out of the ordinary."
The 1 1/8-mile race appeared to be unfolding perfectly for the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes winner as he stalked just behind the leaders and made a sweeping move to take command by the five-sixteenths pole. It looked as though the son of Army Mule could potentially draw away from the competition when he took an awkward step and stumbled as the field approached the eighth pole—the starting point of the race. The incident caused the colt to lose momentum and he faded to seventh, beaten 10 lengths by Final Gambit.
"For a split second your heart's in your throat," Drury Jr. said. "You're not sure what happened and it scares you to death. I'm glad he's home safe and we'll reload and figure out what's next."
Video: Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3)
Drury Jr. said after conversations with the colt's apprentice rider, Irving Moncada, that they believe the incident was caused by California Burrito spooking at tire tracks left over from the starting gate's removal.
"He had locked onto the tire track well before he got to it. Anybody that's ridden horses; you can feel them sucking back on you," Drury Jr. said. "(Moncada) said all of a sudden the head came up and (California Burrito) just kind of shut off. When he got to the tire tracks, he couldn't decide if he wanted to jump it or duck away from it. He ended up just kind of halfway stumbling over it."
Once the incident occurred, the race was lost and Moncada started to ease up on his mount and make sure the colt made it back safe, a move Drury Jr. praised.
"This is where Irving is a little bit ahead of his time," he said of the apprentice. "He came back and said, 'Tommy, I didn't know if he grabbed a quarter, I didn't know if he pulled a shoe off, I didn't want to take any chances with a horse of this caliber. At that point I just put him away.' Job well done.
"I can't commend the jock enough. Once he (stumbled), he knew he probably wasn't going to get anything anyway, so rather than beat the horse up, he put him away. That gives us a little easier path into the next spot."
That next spot is undetermined right now as Drury continues monitoring California Burrito to make sure no lingering effects from the stumble appear.
"We're just going to try and focus on every detail and we're certainly not going to lead a horse of this caliber over there if we don't think he's 100%," Drury Jr. said.
By finishing outside of the top five, California Burrito added no additional Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points to the 20 he earned winning the Battaglia last month. Twenty points leaves him unlikely to qualify for the Derby gate, but there may still be a small chance that the colt could take Drury Jr. and owners Aaron and Victoria Haberman to the Derby.
Drury Jr. said that if California Burrito bounced out of the Jeff Ruby quickly and was "tearing the barn down," the 1 1/16-mile Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland April 12 could be a race that fits. The Lexington offers 20 Derby points to the winner, which would likely put California Burrito right on the qualifying bubble.
However, there is no commitment to that path yet. Drury Jr. also mentioned the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Kentucky Derby undercard as a possibility as well as other 3-year-old stakes targets in Kentucky that could fill out the remainder of his sophomore season.
"These early 3-year-olds, there's so many good races," Drury Jr. said. "At this point, I think we just get our horse right. There's plenty of options for him. We're just going to make sure we do right by him, first and foremost. When he's ready to run, we'll find the right spot."
