Trainer Dan Blacker 1st Winner Let’s go and level 2 winners are moderated by Richard Baltas Bodhicitta both work on Santa Anita . Park pitch on 16 January in preparation for future skirmishes at Gulfstream Park on Pegasus World Cup Day.
Hit the road and Bodhicitta reached Santa Anita’s main track via the quarter-mile slide at 11:42 a.m. PT and back to the finish line, then they stepped onto the pitch and headed for the clubhouse bend to start his work.
Get on the road to prepare for @PegasusWorldCup pitch. . Full work coming @TVG pic.twitter.com/zpkobdpS9U
– Christina Blacker (@ChristinaBlackr) January 16, 2022
The 5-year-old Hit the Road, teamed up by jockey Umberto Rispoli for ease, is timed by Santa Anita watchmaker Dane Nelson at: 36 1/5 for the first three stretches with a final time of: 58 2/5 for five feather clips.
“I asked Umberto to give (Hit the Road) a good piece today, and visually, I’m really pleased,” Blacker told TVG. “I think he’s done a great job. Either way I’m really happy with the way he looks and I just thank the Stronach Group for letting us work on the pitch. It’s really created. Big difference for a horse like this. His dribbling is good but when you see him working on the pitch you realize that’s his forte.”
Owned by DK Racing, Radley Equine, Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, Hit the Road hasn’t started since finishing in last third in the City of Hope Mile Stakes ( G2T) at Santa Anita in October. The son of More than ready was preparing to start at the November 6 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by the PDJF (G1T) before he ran into a fever the day before the race and was forced to scratch.
As the winner of last year’s Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1T) and Thunder Road (G3T) bets, Hit the Road is being tipped for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1T) on the 29th. January.
“We’ll see how he walks away from work,” Blacker said. “He’s got another job next week and everything needs to be perfect. Obviously it’s a long train and I don’t want to go (to Pegasus Turf) unless he’s really ready to fire the game. play his ‘A’. Hopefully everything will go well within the next two weeks and we can shoot.”
Bodhicitta enjoys the wind under the equestrian Jose Valdivia Jr. January 16 at Santa Anita . Park
Calvin Nguyen’s Bodhicitta hit a record: 24 in her first quarter and completed the half-mile in her final time: 47. Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr was on a 6-year-old mare for some fresh air. Daughter of Display is aiming for the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup (G3T) Filly & Mare Turf (G3T) on Pegasus Day.
Bodhicitta has yet to find a winner’s circle since participating in the 2020 Gold Ribbon Handicap (G2T) at Del Mar, though last year she took high-profile stakes in Gamely (G1T) and John C. Mabee (G2T) shares on the Southern California circuit. In the most recent warm-up, she closed to come second after Lucky and more than 1st class winner Unusual Mucho in Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T) on New Year’s Day. Sunday’s job was her first since Frankel.
