Lava Man and Corey Nakatani winning Lava Man’s 3rd consecutive Hollywood Gold Cup (Charles Pravata)

Lava Man just returned to show in the Khaled on the turf at Hollywood Park.

The gamely 7yo gelding returned from his hiatus to press the pace and make a run in the stretch but he couldn’t catch pacesetting Epic Power. As it turned out Mr. Wolverine blew pas both of them. Top This and That looked game for forth.

Jay Hovdey has a nice piece on Lava Man [DRF+] that’s worth a read. It doesn’t surprise me that his 3 consecutive bombs overlap with his groom Noe Garcia’s recovery from his devastating injury. There was piece last year that speculated that he’s a bad shipper in part due to home sickness.

If you’re a Lava Man fan it’s worth picking up The Story of Lava Man DVD (although I would check ebay). It’s been awhile since I’ve watched it (and I’m too lazy to fire it up now) but I seem to remember several indications that Lava Man is very sensitive to his surroundings and bonded to Garcia. Let’s hope the reunion does them both good.