California Derby

Notes:
Dual stakes winner Zeewat headlines the second derby of 2013 when he goes to post as the likely favorite in Northern California on 1/12. The 100,000 California Derby offers no Road to the Roses qualifying points but does serve as a valuable prep for the G3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate in five weeks. Pennsylvania-bred Zeewat, who is co-owned and trained by Bay Area legend Jerry Hollendorfer, must handle and extra sixteenth of a mile after wiring the field in the Gold Rush S. here last month. Condiment and My Best Bet, the respective 2 nd and 3 rd -place finishers in the Gold Rush, will try to turn the tables on the 122 lb. highweight. Condiment, whose only victory came via disqualification in a Stockton maiden race, landed in this spot when the Eddie Logan S. at SA came off-the-turf. My Best Bet, who has never been off-the-board in three starts at GG, also picked up show checks in stakes at SR and FNO. Fairplex stakes victor Tree of Life invades from Southern California off a troubled 5 th in the G3 Generous S. at BHP. He broke his maiden over the synthetic surface at DMR and should handle the Tapeta surface here just fine. Fellow So. Cal shipper Will True Up made his first three starts on grass then finished 3 rd in the Eddie Logan. Wildcat Moon makes his stakes and two-turn debut after consecutive wins at GG and has hit the board in each of his seven starts. Filly Butterfly Soul makes her seasonal debut off a 3 rd in the G3 Miesque S. at BHP and sports some sharp works over this oval.
The California Derby is an American thoroughbred horseracing event that is run in early March at a distance of one and one sixteenth miles on the dirt track of Golden Gate Fields. This ungraded stakes is open to three-year-olds horses. Mollie McCarty won this race in 1876 and Afro-American jockey James Lee won the race with High Private in 1909. In 2009, Chocolate Candy clinched the top position.

California Derby Past Winners

Year	Winner	Trainer	Jockey	Owner	Time
2012	Russian Greek	Jerry Hollendorfer	Aaron Gryder	Olympia Star, Inc.	1:45.07
2011	Positive Response	William E. Morey	Julien Couton	Gevertz/Morey/ Newman/Pagano	1:44.56
2010	Ranger Heartley	John W. Sadler	Julio Garcia	David Alpert/Herb Alpert	1:45.40
2009	Chocolate Candy	Jerry Hollendorfer	Russell Baze	Craig Family Trust	1:43.98
2008	Yankee Bravo	Patrick Gallagher	Alex Solis	Harlequin Ranches et al	1:44.57
2007	Bwana Bull	Jerry Hollendorfer	David Lopez	Mark De Domenico et al	1:44.70
2006	Cause to Believe	Jerry Hollendorfer	Russell Baze	P. Redekop/Peter Abruzzo	1:41.07
2005	No Race
2004	Trieste's Honor	Mike Puype	Russell Baze	Cobra Farm	1:47.95
2003	Mr. Technique	Jeff Bonde	Roberto Gonzalez	James Vreeland	1:47.65
2002	Tracemark	Craid Dollase	Jason Lumpkins	Edward T. McGrath	1:47.93
2001	Takin It Deep	Gil Matos	Jose Arriaga	M. A. Douzas	1:49.25
2000	Bet On Red	Brent Sumja	Ron Warren, Jr.	James Egide/Barry Thiriot	1:48.00
1999	Red Sky's	Jeff Bonde	Russell Baze	M/M Barton D. Heller	-

California Derby Video