No day at the beach likely for Tiago

By: JEFF NAHILL - Staff Writer | Friday, July 13, 2007 11:37 PM PDT ∞

The annual trek of horses to Del Mar has begun with the 43-day meeting set to begin on Wednesday, but one horse not expected to show his wares at the seaside oval will be Tiago.

The Santa Anita Derby winner and Belmont Stakes third-place finisher will be an overwhelming favorite in today's Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. An expected victory would make Tiago, a half brother to 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, a viable candidate for Del Mar's premier race ---- the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 19.

Three-year-olds like Tiago have done well in the Pacific Classic ---- can you say Best Pal, General Challenge or Came Home? ---- but trainer John Sherriffs has bigger fish to fry than a 6-year-old Lava Man. Sherriffs wants the big boys (Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness Stakes winner Curlin) ---- and girl (Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches).

"We're hoping (the Swaps) is a steppingstone," said Sherriffs this week on an NTRA conference call.

The trainer went on to say he "didn't think" Del Mar was on the radar ---- especially considering he has the 4-year-old A.P. Xcellent to try and beat Lava Man after losing by a nose in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

"It would be a race back East," said Sherriffs of future plans for Tiago. "Not sure; we'll have to see how things go. Obviously, the Travers (at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) would be a great race, but I don't know."

Tiago has earned nearly $600,000 in his short six-race career, but with the horses he has been running against, lines make him odds on in today's 1 1/8 race on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track.

"He came out of the Belmont in great shape and has worked well for the Swaps," Sherriffs said. "We're happy with the way he ran in the Belmont. Any time you can be placed in a classic race is very good."

Tiago will be making his synthetic track debut today, although he has been training at the Inglewood track. Tiago's come-from-behind style also fits the track profile well.

"All tracks play differently so it's hard to predict how that will work out," Sherriffs said of the shape of today's race. "With Desert Code in the race, it should ensure a decent pace anyway."

Tiago got a fast pace in the Kentucky Derby, but he finished 10 lengths behind Street Sense in seventh place. Sherriffs admits it wasn't one of his colt's best efforts.

"I don't think it was one of his better races, obviously," he said. "Coming out of the gate, Mike (Smith, jockey) had to hustle him along a little bit. I don't know if it was just immaturity or just distracted by the big crowd, but it took him a while to get into the race."

But the Swaps is a race Sherriffs targeted a long time ago while training at Hollywood Park and it looks like easy pickings. Too bad a win won't mean a trip to the beach.

More on the way
Owners Jerry and Ann Moss plus Sherriffs have quite a production line going with the offspring of the mare Set Them Free.

First came Giacomo and his thrilling Derby victory.

Now it's Tiago.

Next year it's Alonzo.

The 2-year-old colt, who is a full brother to Tiago by Pleasant Tap, just came to Sherriffs' barn last week. He will be brought along slowly and hopefully have the same success as his siblings.

Alonzo is named for Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning.

Set Them Free also has a yearling fathered by Giant's Causeway.

Parting of the ways
One of the bigger news stories of the last week was the racing partnership breakup of Horse Racing Television analyst Jeff Siegel and his long-time confidant Barry Irwin.

They were some of the first people to let people own horses in syndicated partnerships as Clover Racing and later Team Valor.

I will never forget the day Siegel and trainer Julio Canani were in the Santa Anita press box watching the 1989 Santa Anita Handicap as Martial Law upset the field at odds of 50-1. The place was rocking.

This breakup appears to have been in the making for a while as Siegel is one of the stars on HRTV and doesn't have the time to devote to both ventures.

"Together we won 170 stakes and 21 graded stakes, but at this stage of my life, I'd prefer to have one full-time job, not two," Siegel said in a statement.

Irwin said this week on a conference call that the business has drastically changed.

"When we started out we went after made horses (ones that had raced already) and they were easy to buy," Irwin said. "The last five or six years, buying made horses is difficult. (Santa Anita Derby runner-up) King of the Roxy is the only horse we bought in all of North America last year.

"Most of the horses we bought were in foreign countries and most of the horses we buy now are yearling or horses that haven't run. That's my forte. Jeff's is racing and finding horses that have shown ability on the track, but those horses are no longer viable. You can't buy them anymore. We decided to go our separate ways."

Irwin has renamed the new company Team Valor International because he races horses all over the world with a recent emphasis in South Africa.

"Everything will pretty much be the same," Irwin said. "We might do a little bit more yearling buying abroad, which I happen to enjoy."

Why, why, why?
> Why doesn't the California Horse Racing Board mandate that all meets start on Fridays? That would give horsemen and bettors alike four days off to get to a new meet while giving a little bit of a break. Remember the old days when there was one week between meets? The lone exception would be Santa Anita's winter meet, which traditionally starts on Dec. 26.

> Why did the CHRB cave in to political pressure and allow Bay Meadows to race next year without a synthetic surface? Either stick to your guns or not. Guess it was "not" in this case. Bad move.

> Why wasn't trainer Patrick Biancone in the winner's circle for Friday night's CashCall Mile after his Lady of Venice beat Precious Kitten? Could it have anything to do with the report in last week's Daily Racing From that a vile of snake venom was found in Biancone's Kentucky barn during an inspection? Snake venom can be used as a painkiller in thoroughbreds and currently can't be detected by post-race testing.

Finishing lines
> David Flores will replace Alex Solis aboard Awesome Gem in next Saturday's Grade II San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, according to West Point Thoroughbred's Jeffrey Bloom. Solis is committed to trainer Bruce Headley's Arson Squad and had to ask off Awesome Gem, whom he guided to an allowance race victory at Hollywood Park.

> Santa Anita announced on Thursday that Steve Wood will step down as main track superintendent. Wood holds similar positions at Del Mar and Fairplex Park and didn't believe he would have time to oversee the installation of Cushion Track at Santa Anita, which is set to begin shortly at the Arcadia track.

> Hollywood Juvenile Championship winner Salute the Sarge may prep for the Del Mar Futurity by running in the Best Pal Stakes, according to trainer and co-owner Eric Guillot.

> After adding three new races to its program and spreading it over two days, the Breeders' Cup announced this week it will hold the draw for all 11 of its races on Oct. 23, a Tuesday. The Breeders' Cup will be held Oct. 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. The three additional races will be run as part of Friday's card with the traditional eight BC races on Saturday.

Contact staff writer Jeff Nahill at (760) 740-3550 or jnahill@nctimes.com.

Today's selections

Staff writer Jeff Nahill's picks from selected stakes races around the nation:

Hollywood Park

Eighth race, Swaps (Grade II): 1. Desert Code, 2. Tiago, 3. Albertus Maximus. Long shot: Augment.

Belmont Park

Eighth race, Poker Handicap (Grade III): 1. Art Master, 2. Host, 3. Jet Propulsion. Long shot: Classic Campaign.

Arlington Park, Ninth race, Round Table: 1. Snowblind Friend, 2. Dominican, 3. Time Squared. Long shot: Mandurah.

Four O'clock Fridays

Del Mar's concert lineup for the 2007 season:

July 20: Satellite Party

July 27: Pinback

Aug. 3: Violent Femmes

Aug. 10: Unwritten Law

Aug. 17: Cake

Aug. 24: Pete Yorn

Aug. 31: Angels & Airwaves

Infield concerts

Aug. 4: The Cult

Aug. 25: Ziggy Marley