Check’s On the Way will have his stakes debut in Friday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar and the gelding could be on a path to the winner’s circle from trainer Simon Callaghan’s perspective.
Check’s On the Way has won three of six starts this year, with all the wins in sprints. Those results have left Callaghan confident of a strong performance by Check’s On the Way from off the pace in the Real Good Deal, run at seven furlongs for California-bred 3-year-olds.
“All of his dirt sprints have been good races,” Callaghan said on Thursday. “I think seven-eighths is probably the perfect distance for him.”
Check’s On the Way, who races for owners and breeders Paul and Zillah Reddam, closed from fourth of five to win a six-furlong allowance race for statebred 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on June 8 in his most recent start.
Check’s On the Way is part of a field of eight that includes Speedy Wilson, unraced since a win in the Golden State Juvenile at seven furlongs at Del Mar last November; Style Cat and Drop Um, who were first and second in the Echo Eddie Stakes for statebreds at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on April 5; and Shea Brennan, who finished first in the California Cup Derby in January but was disqualified and placed second for causing interference.
On Sunday, Callaghan plans to start Jasmina in the $100,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at five furlongs. Owned by the Reddams, Jasmina won her second start in a maiden race by five lengths at Los Alamitos on June 28.
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