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Northern California takes center stage on the Road to the Kentucky Derby each year with the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields. Contested at 1 1/8-miles on Golden Gates' synthetic main track, the 2012 El Camino Real Derby on Feb. 18 is projected to have a large field of contenders that includes two Eastern invaders. The El Camino Real Stakes was first run in 1982 at Bay Meadows. The race was held there until Bay Meadows closed in 2008 and was shifted to its current home at Golden Gate. According to the Golden Gate publicity office, a field of 10 3-year-olds are being pointed to the 2012 El Camino Real. That group consists of several locally-based horses, as well as a couple horses shipping up from Southern California and the two Eastern horses that are scheduled to make the cross-country trip. Handsome Mike, who is exiting a 4th-place finish in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, leads the Southern California contingent. Ireland-bred Lucky Chappy will ship to Golden Gate from Gulfstream Park to try his hand in the El Camino Real for owner Team Valor and trainer H. Graham Motion, the connections that brought you last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Animal Kingdom. Eastern-based jockey Alan Garcia, who won the 2008 Belmont Stakes with D'Tara, will fly in to ride Lucky Chappy. Gulfstream-based jockey Julien Leparoux will also make the trip to Golden Gate. The two-time Eclipse Award winning jockey will ride Daddy Nose Best for trainer Steve Asmussen. The El Camino Real Derby has produced several winners of Triple Crown races in its history. Perhaps the most notable of those was Tabasco Cat. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Tabasco Cat won the 1994 El Camino Real and followed that up with a disappointing 6th-place finish in the 1994 Kentucky Derby. However, Tabasco Cat rebounded to take that year's Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Tank's Prospect and Snow Chief are the other two winners of the El Camino Real Derby to find success in the Triple Crown series. Tank's Prospect won the 1985 Preakness after annexing the El Camino Real, and Snow Chief pulled the similar double in 1986. As would be expected given the El Camino Real's place on the Northern California circuit, Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and jockey Russel Baze, the sport's all-time leader in career wins, have dominated proceedings. Baze has won eight El Camino Real Derby's to lead all jockeys, which includes six of the last seven runnings. Hollendorfer has won the race five times with the first coming with Event of the Year in 1998. Weight-loss magnate Jenny Craig has won the El Camino Real Derby two times to lead all owners. She won in 2002 with Yougottawanna and again in 2009 with Chocolate Candy. The El Camino Real Stakes may or may not have much of an impact on this year's Triple Crown. The switch by Golden Gate to a synthetic main track has changed the profile of many of the horses competing in the race. Still, it's a good race in its own right and is worth monitoring for potential Kentucky Derby contenders.
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