CAUSE TO BELIEVE RALLIES TO WIN
$100,000 CALIFORNIA DERBY AT GGF
Cause to Believe ran down the erratic speedster Sinister Minister in the stretch and won the $100,000 California Derby by four lengths Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.
The victory was Cause to Believe’s fifth stakes triumph and his sixth win in nine career starts. Cause to Believe is based at Golden Gate Fields in the barn of leading trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned in partnership by Peter Redekop and Peter Abruzzo.
Abruzzo, who purchased 25 percent of Cause to Believe from Redekop following the colt’s victory in the Grade III El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows on Jan. 29, said Cause to Believe will now be nominated to the Triple Crown.
Hollendorfer said Cause to Believe will use the Grade II $500,000 Illinois Derby as a steppingstone to the May 6 Kentucky Derby. The Illinois Derby is a 1 1/8-miles race that will be run April 8 at Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago.
“If things go the way I hope they do, the Illinois Derby will be his next race,” said Hollendorfer. “The timing is perfect if we’re going to run in the Kentucky Derby and it’s been a successful prep in the past. Peter (Abruzzo) is from Chicago.”
Cause to Believe, ridden by Russell Baze, won the 1 1/16-miles California Derby in
1:41.07 (the fastest time of the meeting by a full second) and paid $3.00 as the heavy
1-to-2 favorite in a field of five. Sinister Minister, who repeatedly bumped into the rail during the stretch run, took second by 14 lengths over The Five J’s.
“There’s more horse than he showed today,” said Baze. “The other horse (Sinister Minister) hitting the fence made my job easier, but we were going to get him anyway. We were gathering him in.”
Apprentice Martin Garcia, who rode Sinister Minister, had no idea what caused his mount to duck into the rail.
“I don’t know why he tried to jump the rail,” said Garcia. “He wasn’t tired. I don’t know if he saw something. I did my best to keep him off the rail. I pulled on the right rein. I bumped the rail three times. After he bounced off the rail he came back on.”
Cause to Believe, a Kentucky-bred son of Maria’s Mon, was purchased as a 2-year-old for $30,000 by Hollendorfer. The Cal Derby win was worth $55,000 and increased Cause to Believe’s earnings to $335,565.
Cause to Believe is the first horse to sweep Northern California’s two Kentucky Derby prep races – the El Camino Real Derby and the California Derby.