Two-year-olds Gear Up for CashCall Futurity

by Patricia Woo | Dec 17 2008

Pioneerof the Nile, Chocolate Candy and Bittel Road will be among the 2-year-olds looking to cash in on the $750,000 CashCall Futurity on Saturday, Dec. 20. For a rundown of the top contenders click here.

The ladies dazzled you last week in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes; now it's the boys' turn to put on a show at Hollywood Park in the $750,000 Gr. 1 CashCall Futurity for 2-year-olds on Saturday, Dec. 20. This 8.5-furlong test will be chock full of Kentucky Derby hopefuls - in fact, in 27 years, the CashCall Futurity has featured six Kentucky Derby champions. This year, Pioneerof the Nile, Chocolate Candy and Bittel Road will be among the contenders hoping to make that connection.

Though he does have an impressive pedigree - he is by Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker and out of sprinter Star of Goshen - Pioneerof the Nile does not boast an especially noteworthy resume. He broke his maiden on grass at second asking in August at Saratoga, and followed up that performance with a third-place finish in the $500,000 Gr. 1 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity on Keeneland's Polytrack in October and a fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile event. But when top rider Garrett Gomez announced that he will ride Pioneerof the Nile instead of the horse he won the Real Quiet Stakes with, Chocolate Candy, the ears of horse bettors everywhere pricked up. Gomez's agent, Ron Anderson, thinks highly of the Ahmed Zayat-owned horse: "The other colt is okay, but I think [Pioneerof the Nile] might be a Derby horse." But what may be more of a factor in Pioneerof the Nile's success than Gomez's expertise is the track at Hollywood Park - this will be the colt's first start on dirt. But trainer Bob Baffert is confident in his charge's abilities to make the transition successfully: "He looks awesome," the three-time CashCall Futurity-winning trainer said. "He deserves to be the favorite."

And Chocolate Candy will be hoping to play spoiler, despite being passed over by Gomez. Not only has he has won his last two starts - a maiden race at Santa Anita in October and the $100,000 Real Quiet Stakes in November - the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee has proven he can win races around two turns. "This is a little tougher field," Hollendorfer said, "but he’s doing real good, and we think he's ready." Rafael Bejarano will get the mount.

Rounding out the top contenders is Bittel Road, a grade 3 stakes winner, who is trained by Todd Pletcher. This 2-year-old began his 2008 campaign with three straight wins, including the $200,000 Gr. 3 Woodford Reserve Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland in October. After weakening in the stretch to finish eighth at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf event, Bittel Road went on to finish second in the $100,000 Generous Stakes at Hollywood Park. Like Pioneerof the Nile, Bittel Road will be making the switch to dirt for the CashCall Futurity for the first time.

Also among the expected are Hollywood Juvenile champion Azul Leon, Pioneerof the Nile's stablemate Ventana and Northern California invader Frumious.

Who do you like to win the $750,000 Gr. 1 CashCall Futurity? Bet on horse racing at the Bodog Racebook!