Private Chef Has the Right Recipe

This is the year when the 3-year-old geldings just won’t go away. Besides Funny Cide, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, Buddy Gil won the Santa Anita Derby, Excessivepleasure won a $500,000 race in New Mexico, and on Sunday at Hollywood Park the lightly raced Private Chef used a strong stretch run for a three-quarter-length win in the $112,600 Will Rogers Stakes.

Sometimes, the full-fledged colts don’t have a chance. Banshee King, who had a two-length lead at the head of the stretch before settling for second place in the six-horse field, also is a gelding.

Trainer John Shirreffs brought Private Chef into the one-mile grass race off only one career start, a win at six furlongs on dirt more than three months ago at Santa Anita. Julie Krone, who rode the horse that day, subsequently was injured and Shirreffs gave Victor Espinoza the assignment for the Will Rogers. “Victor’s riding so well on the turf,” Shirreffs said. “If anybody can get a horse home on grass, it would be Espinoza.”

Espinoza was riding well on either surface, at any distance, Sunday. He also won the two races before the Will Rogers, giving him 31 victories for the first 25 days of the meet and extending to seven his season lead over Pat Valenzuela.

Private Chef also gave Espinoza his meet-high sixth stakes win. “I didn’t know anything about this horse,” Espinoza said. “[Shirreffs] just wanted me to sit back and make one strong run, just to finish well. I thought we might win turning for home. I saw the favorite [Singletary] not running real well.”

Singletary, ridden by Valenzuela, went off at 2-5 and finished third, beaten by two lengths after looming on Banshee King’s flank with an eighth of a mile left. Private Chef was last after the first half a mile, more than five lengths behind Banshee King.

“I was tracking the leader,” Valenzuela said, “but the turf course was really soft, and that probably cost me more than anything, because it was slipping out from underneath him.”

Officially, the course was listed as firm. Private Chef’s time of 1:35 2/5 was the slowest for a Will Rogers winner since the stake became a mile race in 1995. Private Chef, who earned $67,560 and paid $14 as the second-betting choice.

Anxious to get another race for Private Chef, Shirreffs had supplemented him into the Will Rogers for $5,000.

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Empire Maker, the probable second choice for the Belmont Stakes on June 7, won’t be running in today’s Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park after all.

Almost as an afterthought, trainer Bobby Frankel elected to work Empire Maker on the grass Sunday at Belmont Park. So much rain has hit Belmont in recent days that the main track has been a mess. Under Jerry Bailey, who will ride him in the Belmont, Empire Maker worked five furlongs on a yielding surface in 1:02 3/5. Working with Empire Maker was Midas Eyes, who’s scheduled to run in the $250,000 Riva Ridge on Belmont day.

“It was [Empire Maker’s] first time on the turf, and I didn’t want him to goof off, so I put someone in front of him,” Frankel said. “I couldn’t go into the Belmont off five weeks of no training. I think we’ll be OK now. Hopefully the main track will be OK by next weekend.”

Empire Maker hasn’t run since his second-place finish as the Kentucky Derby favorite.

At Churchill Downs, trainer Ron Ellis has been encouraged by the way Atswhatimtalknbout, another Belmont probable, has responded to the treatment for a bruised right foot. Atswhatimtalknbout, who missed three days of training after his workout Tuesday, was reshod with special bar shoes and jogged two miles Sunday.

“He looked perfect,” Ellis said. “I think this shows that we’ve gotten over it.”

Other horses expected to challenge Funny Cide in the Belmont are Best Minister, Colita, Dynever, Scrimshaw, Ten Most Wanted, Supervisor and possibly Midway Road, Outta Here and Go Rockin’ Robin.