Despite a concern about Ever So Lucky’s final tune-up, trainer
Jonathan Sheppard entered Augustin Stable’s 3-year-old colt in the
$150,000 Hutcheson Stakes on Saturday’s Donn Handicap (G1) program at
Gulfstream Park.
“I expect we’ll end up running him,” Sheppard said after entering Ever
So Lucky in the seven-furlong stakes Wednesday morning. “The horse is
doing wonderfully.”
Sheppard’s confidence in Ever So Lucky’s preparedness for the Hutcheson
was shaken slightly by a five-furlong workout in 1:01.75 over a sloppy
track Monday morning.
“It was too slow. I think the horse needed one more good work,” he
said. “I mean, it was better than nothing, but it didn’t prove much.”
Although dissatisfied with his colt’s final workout for his 2012 debut,
Sheppard’s hardly disappointed with his lightly raced colt, who had
been training in Camden, S.C. before shipping to Gulfstream in
mid-January.
Ever So Lucky, a likely strong favorite in the Hutcheson, was timed in 59.20 seconds for five furlongs in his previous workout.
“The horse wasn’t even blowing after the work,” Sheppard said. “When he
worked the previous time, he worked in company. Julien (Leparoux) had
to ride him a little bit to catch up. The horse got something out of it,
and I wanted something similar. This time for some reason I decided to
work him alone.”
Ever So Lucky has run only twice, both a Churchill Downs, including a
sensational 3 ¼ -length maiden romp at 6 ½ -furlongs on Nov. 11 and a
runner-up finish behind undefeated Gemologist in the 1 1/16-mile
Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) only two weeks later.
Sheppard raised the possibility that he could scratch Ever So Lucky
from the Hutcheson. In the event that Ever So Lucky does not run, his
2012 debut could be delayed by a month.
“I might just wait for the Swale Stakes – same distance, same purse.
Most of the other graded stakes are all too long. I don’t particularly
want to bring him back at a longer distance,” Sheppard said. “But we’ll
see.”