Om and Richard's Boy Meet Up in Joe Hernandez Stakes

After close to two years of tough luck for K.B. Sareen's Om, trainer Dan Hendricks is in a sense changing things up for the son of Munnings  to kick off his 6-year-old campaign.

A three-time grade 2 winner on the grass in Southern California in 2015, Om hasn't won since the Mathis Brothers Mile (G2T) in December of 2015, but he's placed in eight of the 11 graded stakes he's raced in since, including a brutal, runner-up run—by a nose—to Obviously in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita Park.

He'll return to the Santa Anita hillside Jan. 1 in the $75,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes.

"We've mapped out a schedule, and the last couple of years, we've been giving him December and January off," said trainer Dan Hendricks. "This year we'll start off with a couple 6 1/2-furlong races down the hill and then get him out to a mile."

Although Om was a nose away from Breeders' Cup glory, his graded wins in 2015 all came in two-turn races. During his 3-year-old year, he broke through to win his first stakes in the Del Mar Derby (G2T) and scored the Twilight Derby (G2T) in his next start. In between the Twilight Derby and his Mathis Brothers Mile victory, he had another near miss at the top level when he finished third, beaten just a half-length, in the Hollywood Derby (G1T).

"He's been close in a lot of races, he runs a lot of good races, and he always tries," Hendricks said. "It's very frustrating when you win quite a few races and then you don't win for so long, but we just appreciate having him and running him for another year."

Another horse entered in the Joe Hernandez who just missed in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, albeit a year later, is Rockingham Ranch's Richard's Boy.

The son of Idiot Proof came in second, just a head behind Peter Miller-trained stablemate Stormy Liberal in the five-furlong version of the Turf Sprint in November at Del Mar. Although the original idea following the Turf Sprint was to give Richard's Boy some rest, Rockingham racing manager Brian Trump said the gelding was giving signals he was ready to run.

"The plan was to give him some time off, but he's been showing he wants to race," Trump said. "He was one of the first horses (evacuated) out of San Luis Rey (Training Center) during the fire, and as soon as they got him out to the track (at Del mar), you could tell he was feeling good."

Also in the field is Longacres Mile (G3) winner Gold Rush Dancer, who hasn't hit the board in his three starts back in California-bred company since his first graded score at Emerald Downs in the Longacres Mile Handicap (G3); and American Stakes (G3T) winner Pee Wee Reese, who finished third in the Seabiscuit Handicap (G2T) last time out Nov. 26.

Entries: Joe Hernandez S.

Santa Anita Park, Monday, January 01, 2018, Race 7

• STK
• About 6 1/2f
• Downhill turf
• $75,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 3:32 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Gold Rush Dancer (CA)	Evin A. Roman	124	Vann Belvoir	20/1
2	2Pee Wee Reese (CA)	Joseph Talamo	124	Philip D'Amato	3/1
3	3Cimpl Man (KY)	Rajiv Maragh	122	Gary Mandella	15/1
4	4Mr. Roary (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	George Papaprodromou	10/1
5	5Tribalist (CA)	Victor Espinoza	120	Blake R. Heap	9/2
6	6Law Abidin Citizen (KY)	Tyler Baze	120	Mark Glatt	8/1
7	7Om (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Dan L. Hendricks	7/2
8	8Richard's Boy (CA)	Flavien Prat	120	Peter Miller	7/2
9	9Krsto Skye (KY)	Stewart Elliott	120	Ari Herbertson	20/1
10	10Next Shares (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Richard Baltas	12/1
11	11Smokey Image (CA)	Gary L. Stevens	120	Carla Gaines	15/1
12	12Sycamore Lane (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	120	David Jacobson	15/1
13	13Conquest Daddyo (ON)	Tyler Conner	120	John W. Sadler	20/1