Two-Time Sprint Champion Roy H Trains Toward Return

Two-time champion sprinter Roy H, unraced for 17 months because of foot ailments, breezed three furlongs in :37 1/5 at San Luis Rey Training Center June 19 toward what trainer Peter Miller hopes will lead to a summer return. The workout was his third this month.

The gelded son of More Than Ready  won back-to-back renewals of the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) in 2017-18 at Del Mar and Churchill Downs, respectively. He joined Midnight Lute  (2007-08) as the only repeat winners in the Sprint.

Now 8, Roy H last raced in January 2019 when he won the Palos Verdes Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park. He traveled to Dubai a couple of months later for the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News (G1) but was scratched due to a foot abscess in his left front hoof. 

He resumed breezing in September at San Luis Rey in California, with his connections holding out faint hope that he could perhaps make the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. But after one workout, Roy H went to the sidelines again.

This time, there has not been an immediate setback.

"He's really doing well right now," Miller said Friday. "It's kind of exciting to see, training like his old self. His feet haven't been this good in probably two years. So we're cautiously optimistic but just (taking it) one day at a time."

Miller said he timed Roy H galloping out four furlongs in :49 2/5. Miller estimated that the gelding could be ready to race in 30-45 days if he remains on a steady training schedule.

Roy H will show a change in ownership upon his return after racing for Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen from October 2017 to January 2019. The connections had a falling out late last year, including over care and plans for the now-retired Stormy Liberal, another champion they campaigned, and the partnership in Roy H was dissolved, Miller said.

Bernsen removed approximately 18 horses he had in training with Miller, the owner told BloodHorse in December.

Stormy Liberal, the Eclipse Award-winning male turf horse of 2018, now resides at Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, Ky. 

Miller said he has become a part-owner in Roy H with Rockingham, which has owned the gelding throughout his career.

"(Roy H) enjoys training. If he didn't like what he was doing, he wouldn't be doing it," the trainer said. "We would have retired him. … He enjoys his job, being around the barn. And so as long as he's happy, I'm happy."

Bred in Kentucky by Ramona Bass, Roy H is out of the Elusive Quality mare Elusive Diva. The seven-time stakes winner has won 10 of 23 starts and more than $3.1 million.