Roman Ruler, who is owned by Fog City Stable, lost for the first time in three career races in the Futurity after having broken his maiden by four lengths at Hollywood Park in June and following it up with a seven-length romp in the Best Pal Stakes (gr. III) at Del Mar. He will be making his first two-turn start in the Norfolk. With a top performance in the Norfolk, Baffert said, Roman Ruler will start in the Bessemer Trust Breeders‚ Cup Juvenile (gr. I) at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30.
Grade II winner Roman Ruler, second by a neck to Declan's Moon in the Del Mar Futurity (gr. II) in his last start, was put through his final drill in preparation for Sunday's Norfolk Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita, posting a bullet six furlongs in 1:11 3/5 under regular exercise rider Dana Barnes over the Southern California oval's main track Monday morning. The bay son of Fusaichi Pegasus , who worked in company with stablemate Question, was equipped with blinkers for the first time for the breeze. "He worked good," trainer Bob Baffert said. "I'm going to run him in the blinkers. He gets to laying up on horses; he did it a little in the Futurity and (the blinkers) will help."