Jay Em Ess Stable’s Rail Trip, who was turned over to trainer Rick Dutrow following his defeat in the Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I), has a minor foot issue that is not of major concern to Dutrow at this point.
“Rail Trip was kind of favoring his right hind foot and had a pounding pulse on it after he got back from the track this morning,” Dutrow said. “So, I’m thinking he stepped on a rock or something. But he cooled out fine. It’s just that something is irritating him back there. We’re going to work on it today and see how he is tomorrow.
“He’s not real smooth yet and we need him to be real smooth to be running against the horses he’s going to have to beat in these big races. He’s very, very close to that, so we’ll just have to get over this little thing and see how things are tomorrow with him. It’s a day to day thing, but he’s very close to being very good. Then I’ll be able to pick a spot and point him towards it. But right now I can’t.”
Rail Trip, whose biggest win was the Hollywood Gold Cup last year, started this year off with impressive scores in the Mervyn LeRoy (gr. II) and Califorinian Stakes (gr. II) before being upset by Awesome Gem in the Gold Cup.
Shortly after the race, Mace Siegel, who runs the stable with his daughter Samantha, made the decision to take him away from Ron Ellis and send him to Dutrow.