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Trainer Shivananda Parbhoo said that Breeders' Cup Sprint victor Trinniberg came out of his three-quarters of a length victory over The Lumber Guy on Saturday in good order and opened the door to a return trip to Santa Anita next year. "He's a tough horse, a fighter," Parbhoo stated. "He is leaving Tuesday to go back to Calder, but there is a good chance he could come back here for the (Grade 1) Malibu (on December 26 at seven furlongs). It all depends on how he is doing. He has had a tough year with eight races at eight different tracks, but we accomplished what we wanted to do." The mood in the Trinniberg camp was a lot brighter Sunday morning than a year ago at Churchill Downs after Trinniberg had faded to seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint. "To ask a two-year-old to run a 20-second first quarter with pressure from Secret Circle, I just turned away and didn't watch," Parbhoo said. "He just fell apart." |
The only time Trinniberg did not sprint this year was when he tried the Kentucky Derby and finished 17th behind I'll Have Another.
"I have no regrets about running in the Derby," Parbhoo said. "He ran his race. I think he might have been a little closer, but when Bodemeister took the lead -- that surprised us."
Parbhoo's father, Bisnath Parboo, was the trainer of record of Trinniberg in those two races at Churchill Downs. He was unable to make the trip to Santa Anita due to the airline cancellations and delays caused by Hurricane Sandy.
"He is in New York and at first he was going to fly out on Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday and then maybe get on standby Friday night, but it did not work out," Parbhoo said. "He called me before the (post position) draw on Monday and told me we would get the 9 and we did, and he told me we would win, and we did."
Amazombie, the defending Sprint winner and reigning champion male sprinter, could do no better than eighth on Saturday.
"He came back in good shape. I don't have any plans for him right now," his disappointed trainer, Bill Spawr, said Sunday morning.
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Mike Puype was greeted by two Breeders' Cup winners in his barn Sunday -- Mizdirection, who he sent out to victory in the Turf Sprint on Saturday, and Calidoscopio, who was transferred to him by Argentine connections following a victory in the Marathon on Friday. "(Mizdirection) seemed to come out of it good, and I couldn't be more pleased," Puype said after the four-year-filly rallied from 11th to win the Turf Sprint under Mike Smith. "I thought her win was one of the best performances in the Breeders' Cup races. "She came off a layoff, beat colts and had a wide trip," Puype explained the reasons he was elated with the challenging score. Mizdirection made her first start since May and remained perfect in four starts on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita. "I'm not sure what's next for her," Puype said of the gray daughter of Mizzen Mast. "I'm just going to have to huddle up with the owners." |
Calidoscopio, a nine-year-old horse who had trained at Hollywood Park in the six weeks since arriving from Argentina, also joined the Puype stable.
"He's here for now," Puype said of the Argentine-bred son of Luhuk, who was trained to a 17-1 upset victory in the Marathon by Guillermo Frenkel.
"They're thinking of leaving him here to race, but I'm not sure in what races," Puype added. "I should know more in a week from (Stud Dona Pancha advisor) John Fulton."
Mizdirection wasn't the only girl to beat the boys in the Turf Sprint as Peter Miller's Reneesgotzip finished third to defeat all but one of the male runners in the race. She and stablemate Kindergarden Kid, sixth in the Breeders' Cup Turf, both exited their races in good shape and were back in their stalls at Hollywood Park on Sunday.
"She ran super," Miller praised Reneesgotzip. "The pace was fast and she was up close. That sort of took the steam out of her at the end."
While there were three sprint races contested on Saturday, only one took place Friday. The runner-up from the Juvenile Sprint, Merit Man, will receive a break after his gallant nose defeat to Hightail.
"He came out of it well," trainer Bob Hess Jr. said Sunday morning at Clockers' Corner. "We'll give him a break now. I don't see him coming back to the track until January and I'm not sure if we're going to keep him here or take him to Gulfstream.
"I'll probably give him a chance to go long at some point. You pretty much have to give them all a chance to try that."
