We were quite shocked to read a recent BloodHorse article on D. Wayne Lukas's various Derby hopefuls, that our Liam's Map son, Caldera may be coming to New Mexico in a quest for points. The Coach indicated in the article that this was one possible path for him. Being based in New Mexico, we have mixed feelings on this, in that we'd love to see our colt run in person, but we also have a lot of doubts about the state of racing and the track conditions at Sunland, which tends to be a deeper, slower track.
We're also concerned that the Sunland Park Derby was "demoted" last year and now awards only 20 points to the winner, unlike most of the other preps at this point which are awarding 50 (and pretty much a shoe-in to the Derby). On top of that, it will require quite an extensive transport to bring Caldera from Arkansas to southern New Mexico, which may not be the best scenario prior to a Derby prep.
On the flip side, over the years Bob Baffert, Steve Asmussen, Phil D'Amato and other top trainers have often shipped in to Sunland for a go at the sole Derby prep race based there, but most were back in the heydays when the Sunland Park Derby awarded 50 points. Phil D'Amato did bring Stronghold last year (with our filly Simply Enchanting in tow -- she placed in the Sunland Park Oaks the same day), and I believe Steve Asmussen also brought one of his hopefuls.
We know Mr. Lukas always has a plan, and often his decisions are contrary to what he puts out in the press, so we'll wait to see if Caldera will indeed run at Sunland Park on February 16th. As we've said many times over the last 19 months (which produced a Preakness champion, multi-G1 winner and new Kentucky stallion for us), "In Coach we trust."
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