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Horse Racing News and Commentary |
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Lava Man: A Classic |
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Written by Gohorsepower.com
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Friday, 09 February 2007 |
The 2006 title awarded recently to Lava Man makes it two years in a row he's been honored as California Horse of the Year. Although he missed national honors when he finally lost a race last year in the 2006 Breeders Cup Classic, after charging into 2007 with a solid two-length win at the Sunshine Millions Turf, there's no doubt Lava Man remains a classic in his own right.
In 2006 Lava Man became the first horse to win California's three leading races for older horses in the same year - the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap in March, the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup in July, and the Pacific Classic in August.
After his victory in October's Goodwood Breeders Cup Classic, Lava Man headed to the Breeders Cup World Championships, to race in the Classic with a perfect 2006 record of seven consecutive wins. Lava Man would finish seventh in that race, won by Invasor.
Lava Man is a six-year-old gelded son of Slew City Slew. He's won 15 of 36 lifetime starts. In twelve starts on turf he's made six wins and three seconds. The latest of those turf victories was in the Sunshine Millions Turf, run at one and one-eighth miles.
In 2005--the first year for which he won California Horse of the Year honors-- Lava Man won by a record an 8 3/4-length victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup. The win was so impressive that a representative for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum-- the horseman and ruler of Dubai who owns Bernardini--offered $1.5 million for Lava Man.
Although he still needs to prove he can win outside of California, one possible destination for Lava Man this year is Dubai, home of the Dubai World Cup and UAE Derby; and where Lava Man would race the Dubai Duty Free turf on March 31. However, co-owners Jason Wood and Steve Kenley are determined to make the million-dollar Santa Anita Handicap on March 3, with the goal to make Lava Man a rare repeat winner of the "Big Cap".
Claimed by STD Racing Stable and Jason Wood for $50,000 in August 2004, Lava Man has gone on to earn more than four-million dollars--2.7 million of that in 2006 alone.
More Online
Lava Man Repeats as Horse of the Year
USA Today - Blue Collar Horse takes on Blue Bloods
2006 article about Lava Man's roots and the Breeders Cup
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