Mackinnon Invades Golden Gate for El Camino Real Derby

Eleven 3-year-olds are slated for a chance to earn Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points and a paid Preakness Stakes (G1) berth in the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby Feb. 12 at Golden Gate Fields.

Last year Rombauer  took advantage of his free Preakness berth—offered to the winner of the El Camino Real Derby the past four years—and went on to win the second leg of the Triple Crown.

This year a pair of Southern California shippers make the trip north for the El Camino Real Derby, which goes as the eighth race on a nine-race program. The headliner is Mackinnon , who won a pair of stakes on turf as a 2-year-old—the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes at Del Mar and the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita Park—before finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) in November for two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill.

Most recently, the son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah   finished fourth behind next-out Southwest Stakes victor Newgrange  in the Sham Stakes (G3) on dirt at Santa Anita. Keen behind horses along the inside early in a slow-paced race, he finished evenly to lose by 3 1/2 lengths.

Southern California-based jockey Abel Cedillo is named to ride the Boom Racing, ERJ Racing, Madaket Stables, and Dave Kenney-owned runner. 

O'Neill saddles a second entrant in Del Mo , who won a maiden special weight at Golden Gate Jan. 9 and has trained in the Bay Area leading up to the El Camino Real Derby. He races for Glenn Sorgenstein WC Racing, Train Wreck Al Racing Stables, and Bill Strauss.

Trainer Bob Baffert won the El Camino Real Derby in 2019 with Azul Coast  and sends out Blackadder  in Saturday's edition. In his most recent afternoon appearance, the son of Quality Road   broke his maiden in a two-turn off-the-turf race at Santa Anita Dec. 26. Blackadder is owned by the large partnership of SF Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm.

Local contenders run deep. The Temple City   colt Boise  attempts to rebound after a poor performance in the Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita on turf. Trained by leading Northern California conditioner Jonathan Wong, Boise broke his maiden at Golden Gate and won the Gold Rush Stakes in December over the Tapeta main track for owners Jason Hall, Scott Herbertson, and Sheldon Steinmetz.

Dr Pescado  picked up a stakes victory in the Golden Nugget Stakes sprinting on Tapeta last fall and returns after freshening up two months after finishing third behind Boise in the Gold Rush.

C'Mon Man , who rounded out the superfecta in the Gold Rush and was a non-factor in the Eddie Logan Stakes, is another 3-year-old from the local contingent entered.

Unraptured , who has always been well regarded by his connections and the Bay Area racing community, is 2-for-2 on the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate. The son of Uncaptured makes his stakes debut Saturday.

Also in the cast are Stormy Samurai , Il Bellator , Meetmeattheclub , and Nuestro Engriedo.

Saturday's race offers Derby qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to its top four finishers, though Blackadder is ineligible to earn any points due to Churchill Downs Inc.'s suspension of trainer Baffert from racing at its tracks.

Entries: El Camino Real Derby

Golden Gate Fields, Saturday, February 12, 2022, Race 8

• STK
• 1 1/8m
• All Weather Track
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 4:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Stormy Samurai (KY)	William Antongeorgi III	122	Jack Steiner	8/1
2	2Mackinnon (KY)	Abel Cedillo	122	Doug F. O'Neill	8/5
3	3Unraptured (FL)	Armando Ayuso	122	Tim McCanna	10/1
4	4Blackadder (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	122	Bob Baffert	7/2
5	5Nuestro Engreido (CA)	Santos Rivera	122	Felix Rondan	20/1
6	6Boise (KY)	Evin A. Roman	122	Jonathan Wong	9/2
7	7Dr Pescado (CA)	Pedro M. Terrero	122	Felix Rondan	15/1
8	8Meetmeattheclub (CA)	Silvio Ruiz Amador	122	Daniel Franko	50/1
9	9C'Mon Man (KY)	Irving Orozco	122	Bill McLean	15/1
10	10Il Bellator (KY)	Alejandro Gomez	122	Jose Bautista	20/1
11	11Del Mo (KY)	Ruben Fuentes	122	Doug F. O'Neill	10/1