Photo: MEC
A valiant second while coming off a layoff in a 1 1/8-mile allowance at
Gulfstream on Jan. 26, Duke of the City is scheduled to take on
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) third-place finisher Capo Bastone in
Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile ninth race.
“I kind of wish his race on Saturday was a mile and an eighth. I
think he needed his first race, and hopefully, he’ll improve off of
that,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “There looks like a little bit more speed in this race. He’s a very big
horse with a long stride, so I think the longer distance suits him
better.”
Coming off a four-month layoff, the 3-year-old son of Bernardini set
a pressured pace before being passed by highly regarded Orb in the
stretch and fighting back late to fall only a length short of the Shug
McGaughey-trained winner.
“We nominated him for the Triple Crown series, but we’re taking it
one race at a time, one step at a time,” Breen said. “We don’t want to
get ahead of ourselves.”
Duke of the City, owned by Lori and George Hall, is out of Meadow Breeze, a Grade 1 stakes winner by Meadowlake.
“I’ve been fortunate to buy a lot of good horses for the Halls,
mostly at Keeneland. You might like a lot of horses when you go to a
sale, and it’s just a matter of being the fortunate one to get one
that’s in your price range for a specific horse,” Breen said. “When we
were able to take him home for the price we gave for him, $130,000 for a
Bernardini colt, we did exceptionally well purchasing him.”
Duke of the City debuted at Monmouth on Sept. 3 with a third-place
finish in a 5 ½ -furlong maiden race. Two weeks later, he posted a
front-running victory going a mile at Laurel Park.
“He’s a big horse with a really long stride. I knew he wasn’t going
to win going five furlongs, but at the time, it was either that or keep
him in the barn for another two months,” Breen said. “We started him out
knowing he was going to need more distance.”
Duke of the City’s stablemate Pants On Fire will make his second
start of the Gulfstream meeting in Friday’s sixth race, a $65,000
optional claiming allowance at the distance of a mile. The 2011
Louisiana Derby (G2) winner finished third in the Hal’s Hope (G3) on
Jan. 13. The son of Jump Start stumbled at the start, made a three-wide
bid on the turn while vying for the lead and fought gamely to the
finish, checking in a half-length behind victorious Csaba.
“He just got a little bit tired, and he had a right to get tired.
His race at Delta Downs, he didn’t get anything out of it,” said Breen,
who saddled Pants On Fire for a 4 ½ length victory in a Gulfstream
allowance last winter. “I just want to see him run a good race. I’m
taking it one race at a time.”
Friday’s sixth race attracted a strong collection of veteran runners
in addition to Pants on Fire, including Winslow Homer, the 2010 Holy
Bull (G3) winner, Eldaafer, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner, and
Duke of Mischief, a winner of $1.9 million.
“He had trouble in the gate (in the Hal’s Hope). Hopefully, he’ll be
good in the gate this time,” Breen said. “I’m not crazy about post
position No. 1, knowing he can be a handful in the gate at times and
he’ll be in the gate for a while. Hopefully, he’ll behave.”