A glance at the past performance lines of Charming Kitten would lead
most handicappers to expect a move forward in Sunday’s $100,000
Kitten’s Joy at Gulfstream. Breaking from the far-outside post position
for his first start in three mounts, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt
raced four-wide into the stretch and fell a half-length short of
catching victorious Mystic Love in the $100,000 Dania Beach on Dec. 15.
Count trainer Todd Pletcher among those who are expecting Charming
Kitten to make strides forward in Sunday’s 1 1/16-mile turf stakes.
“He lost a little bit of ground (due to the No. 10 post), but I
thought he ran well in spite of that. He’s training even better for this
race, so we’re optimistic he’ll have an improved performance,” Pletcher
said.
Charming Kitten is a son of Kitten’s Joy and is owned by breeders
Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who campaigned Kitten’s Joy, the 2004 Eclipse
Award-winning male turf champion.
The Pletcher-trained Discreet Dancer, who was nominated but was not
entered for Saturday’s $150,000 Florida Sunshine Millions Sprint, is
nearing a return to action from an 11-month layoff.
“He’s getting there. We’re still probably a few works away. He’s
training well and has come back well so far,” said Pletcher, who saddled
Discreet Dancer to a pair of dominating victories to open his career at
Gulfstream last season before a third-place finish in the Fountain of
Youth (G2) last February.
The Pletcher-trained Verrazano has been training well since scoring
an eye-catching debut victory by more than seven lengths at Gulfstream
on Jan. 1.
“He had a good breeze on Sunday (four furlongs in :49 2/5), and he’ll
have another one this Sunday. Then, we’ll look for a spot for him maybe
next month,” Pletcher said. “Most likely we’ll go the allowance route.
We’ll look to gradually stretch out.”