Trainer Jonathan Thomas, whose stable has won nine stakes in California in the last year, has relocated his 20-horse team to Keeneland this month, but plans a return to California for the Del Mar autumn meeting, he said on Thursday.
“We hope to start trickling out there by Nov. 1,” he said.
The Del Mar autumn meeting runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 30.
Thomas said he plans to have a California-based stable later this fall and through the winter at Santa Anita before moving some runners back to Keeneland in the spring.
“Keeneland is home,” he said. “We could leave an auxiliary string out there” in California.
“We definitely plan to be in California for the winter.”
Thomas, 39, won three graded stakes in a week at Del Mar last November, highlighted by Truly Quality’s victory in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup. Truly Quality was part of Thomas’s team that raced at the recent Del Mar summer meeting. The stable had one win with 15 starters, with third-place finishes in two stakes.
Truly Quality was fourth in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 30. The $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles on Nov. 28 is a goal for Truly Quality, Thomas said.
The 20 horses Thomas has at Keeneland will form the bulk of his Del Mar team later this year. Thomas said he hopes the number will increase in coming weeks.
“I’m really trying to recruit some horses to bring out West,” he said.
Thomas has starters in maiden races at Keeneland on Friday and Sunday.
“We’re trying to come away with a win or two,” he said of the Keeneland meeting. “You hope they run well. If they’re competitive here, you can feel good about taking them elsewhere.”
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