Peter Deutsch's Adirondack Summer will
make his second start following a five-month layoff in the $125,000
Bluegrass Cat Mohawk, a 1 1/16-mile turf event for 3-year-olds and up
that will serve as the Showcase Day finale.
In his first
start off the bench, Adirondack Summer was second against 3-year-olds in
the Summing overnight stakes on September 15 at Belmont.
"He
came back and had a nice prep race the other day," said trainer
Christophe Clement. "He has trained well. He's a 3-year-old against
older horses. It's not an easy race, but we had to leave this one in, so
let's have a look at it."
Adirondack Summer has made
two other starts in 2011, taking the Dania Beach in January at
Gulfstream Park and finishing third in the Grade 3 Transylvania in April
at Keeneland.
"He came back sore from the race at
Keeneland, so he was turned out and we gave him some time off," said
Clement. "We ran him a little bit short the other day, which is why I
expect him to improve. I think he's a tighter horse, a fitter horse. I
would prefer that the ground not be too soft, which it should not be by
Saturday."
Alan Garcia will ride Adirondack Summer, 9-2 on the morning line, from post 2.
The
8-5 favorite for the Mohawk is LaMarca Stable's Compliance Officer, who
enters the race off four straight wins, including scores in the West
Point on August 18 at Saratoga and the Ashley T. Cole on September 11 at
Belmont.
"I couldn't ask him to be doing any better,"
said trainer Bruce Brown, who claimed Compliance Officer for $25,000 in
May. "Because there's more time in between the [Ashley T. Cole and the
Mohawk], I was a little worried about just kind of keeping him peaking
at the right time. Alex [Solis] breezes him and he says he's just as
good as ever."
Solis has the return assignment aboard Compliance Officer, who drew post 5.