“Calder was nice enough to run a race named after Giant Ryan, so I want to participate in the race,” Parbhoo said.
“After his last race last year, we just wanted to give him some time off,” Parbhoo said. “So we sent him to the farm for a bit and then brought him back for that allowance race, which he won. He came out of that race in good shape, and when I saw they were naming a race for Giant Ryan, we decided to point to the race.”
The 6 ½-furlong distance of the Giant Ryan will be the shortest that King Ghidorah has been asked to run since very early in his career when the son of Black Mambo finished third in a six-furlong maiden-claimer at Calder in April 2009. To prepare for next weekend’s cut in distance, King Ghidorah blazed a half-mile in :46.80 at Calder on Saturday, the fastest of 92 moves at the distance.
“We wanted to get a good work in him,” Parbhoo said. “He did everything easy and came back good. With the time off he’s had, he should be a fresh horse for the second half of the year.”
GARRISON CONTINUES HOT STREAK WITH MS BROOKSKI WIN
Trainer Curtis Garrison continued his excellent run at Calder on Saturday when sending out Prize Doll to a grassy victory in the $55,000 Ms Brookski Stakes. The win was the eighth in 15 starts at the meet for Garrison, who also tallied his second stakes triumph of the season having already won the Ponche Handicap with Field Commission.
Ridden by Manoel Cruz, Prize Doll settled mid-pack in the Ms Brookski before rallying down the center of the Calder turf course to win by 1 ¼ lengths.
The win was the second straight for the Edward Seltzer-owned filly, who also took an allowance on the Calder green in early July.
SUNDAY WORKERS
Several horses with local stakes experience littered the Calder workout tab on Sunday including three of trainer Marty Wolfson’s record six-entrants in this year’s Grade 1 Princess Rooney.
Golden Mystery, who finished seventh in the Princess Rooney, worked the fastest of the trio when drilling four furlongs in a bullet :48.80.
Nakano, the third-place finisher in the Princess Rooney, covered the same distance in :49.40, while Leopard Rock, eighth in the Princess Rooney, went a half-mile in :50.80.
Frank C. Calabrese’s Where’s Sterling continued preparations for a possible start in next month’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar when working five-eighths in 1:02.20 Sunday morning.
BOCACHICA EXPECTED BACK FRIDAY
Orlando Bocachica, third in the Calder jockey standings when suffering a displaced fracture of his collarbone in a May 18 spill, is scheduled to return on Friday.