Lava Man tries to start new streak

The apprehension that trainer Doug O’Neill felt before Lava Man’s first start of 2006 has been replaced by optimism entering the remarkable gelding’s initial race of the new year.

Before the $1-million Sunshine Millions Classic a year ago, O’Neill wasn’t sure how the California-bred would respond, after ending 2005 with two forgettable efforts. Lava Man finished his 4-year-old season beaten by a combined 62 3/4 lengths in two races in New York and Tokyo, returning from his 11th-place finish in the Japan Cup Dirt with foot woes.

Not only did Lava Man win the Classic last Jan. 28, he went on to have a nearly perfect year.

He became the first horse to sweep the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic. In all, he won seven of eight and earned $2,770,000 for owners Jason Wood and Steve, Tracy and Dave Kenly’s STD Racing Stable.

Lava Man finally ran poorly in his final start of 2006. With a championship on the line, he flopped in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, finishing seventh, 15 3/4 lengths behind winning Invasor, named horse of the year this week.

Despite that failure, O’Neill says Lava Man, who was claimed for $50,000 by his current connections in August 2004, is healthy and ready for his 6-year-old coming-out party. That will be the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf on Saturday at Santa Anita.

The 1 1/8 -mile Turf is one of four Sunshine Millions races that will be run locally, with the other four at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.

Although Lava Man has done most of his winning on dirt, the dark bay is no stranger to grass. He has won five of 11 on turf, including a Grade I, the Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap last June at Hollywood Park.

Because the Sunshine Millions Classic is being run in Florida this year, O’Neill, the Kenlys and Wood decided to keep Lava Man at home for his first start in nearly three months.

“I feel more confident now than I did at this time last year,” O’Neill said. “I like starting off with a turf race, as opposed to how we did it last year, because turf races are usually kinder run races.

“We all thought the intelligent move was to run him out of his own stall to start the year off and try to get the streak going again.”

Despite the beatings Lava Man has taken in races outside California, O’Neill says he and the partners still believe the gelding can win away from home. Before the losses in Japan, New York and Kentucky the last two years, Lava Man was beaten by 14 1/2 lengths in his first road trip for O’Neill, finishing seventh in the 2005 Sunshine Millions Classic.

“The intelligent move probably would be to keep him here, but I think all of us love challenges and if he regains the form he had in 2006 and opportunities present themselves, I think you will see Lava Man on the road again,” O’Neill said. “I know everybody will be saying we’re idiots, but we still think he can ship and win.

“Other than the race itself, everything couldn’t have gone better, leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He was just never involved that day. The next-best excuse is, he didn’t handle the track, so we still left there thinking he is better than this.”

One trip under consideration is to the United Arab Emirates for the $5-million Dubai Duty Free, run as part of the Dubai World Cup program March 31.

“There’s a little dream about taking him to Dubai and trying the turf over there, but it probably isn’t a realistic thing,” O’Neill said. “We’ll see what happens on Saturday. I think the dream, aside from Dubai, is to try and have a similar campaign as we did in 2006.”

A winner of 14 of 35 and more than $3.8 million, Lava Man will have 11 opponents in the Turf. He had his last major workout Sunday, going six furlongs in 1:12.80 over the Cushion track at Hollywood Park.

According to O’Neill, Lava Man seems as willing and able as ever.

“He’s every bit as eager as he was prior to all of his big races last year,” the trainer said. “There’s really no sign that he’s ready for [retirement at] the Kentucky Horse Park.”

bob.mieszerski@latimes.com