Clocker's Corner At Santa Anita For December 9, 2010: The Dirt Is Back

The return of dirt to the main track at Santa Anita Park brings along with it the return of horsemen who fled to the East Coast after the synthetic surfaces were not to their liking.

Eric Guillot, who trains exclusively for Southern Equine Stables, is excited to be back at his home base in Southern California, where he first started in 1982.

Click here to watch my interview with Eric Guillot

“We left because of the synthetics. We needed to get off the synthetics and that’s the only reason I left,” said Guillot, who has saddled 26 winners for nearly $1.2 million in 2010. “Two years ago at Del Mar I had a lot of nice young horses and it was tiring working on them so hard. You couldn’t get them past the ailments with feet and stifle issues. There was no slide on the synthetics.”

Just four days since the track opened for morning training, it’s receiving high praise.

“I love it. I think it’s good. They float right over it. There’s not too much clay,” said Guillot, who captured the first Grade 1 win of his career in 2009 here at Santa Anita with Santa Teresita. “Sand and dirt make race tracks. It’s just that simple. It’s not too deep. I think it’s going to be the cat’s meow.”

He compares this surface favorably to those at Saratoga and Louisiana Downs, which have a good mix of organic dirt with sand. In his opinion, it will also be similar to the Fairgrounds with their river bottom sand.

“You’ll be able to do what you want with it. You’ll be able to wet it and seal it and make it fast or harrow it and make it deep,” said Guillot.

Among the approximate “top 20 horses” that Guillot has with him are multiple Grade 1 winner Champagne D’Oro, who is pointing for the $250,000 Grade 1 La Brea on Opening Day December 26, and Canadian Ballet, an eight-time winner and earner of $621,959 that he recently acquired at auction after she ran a disappointing last for trainer Linda Rice in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. She is targeting the $100,000 Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes on January 2.

Guillot has been in partnership with his best friend Mike Moreno for 12 years in what he describes as “an amazing partnership.” They downsized in recent years, trimming the number of horses in their barn by about 100.

“That middle division just don’t pay. It’s a losing proposition,” said Guillot. “For every dollar you make in purses you lose five.”

“We’re about making asset mares and stallions at the high-end level that we play. We need to be where we can spotlight our young horses. With TVG, HRTV and Tex Sutton out here, it doesn’t work out for high-end horses to be in the Midwest.”

The majority of Guillot’s barn is up to working five furlongs, with his first horses ready to work over the track here on Friday and Saturday after having had a few days to acclimate since shipping in.

He anticipates his barn will be ready to start firing on all cylinders towards the middle of January and is excited about some young prospects nearing their debuts.

Those youngsters include Moreno’s Star, a full brother to Grade 2 winner and $1 million earner Seattle Smooth, a Langhfur colt, and a Tapit filly.

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