While much of the attention Sunday at Gulfstream Park will focus on
undefeated 3-year-old Hansen’s highly-anticipated 2012 debut in the
$400,000 Holy Bull Stakes (G3), an ‘a other than’ allowance carded for 1
1/16 miles around two turns to be run an hour earlier will also have
fans and observers looking for potential emerging 3-year-old stars.
The most accomplished in the field of nine are Lets Go Stable’s El Padrino, Javier Castellano; Robert LaPenta’s Casual Trick, John
Velazquez; and Chuck and Marybeth Sandford’s Take Charge Indy, Calvin
Borel – each stakes-placed and using Sunday’s race to get to a more
ambitious objective on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail.
{Check out the top Kentucky Derby 2012 contenders}
“We didn’t want to turn back to a mile (Holy Bull),” said trainer Pat
Byrne Friday morning of Take Charge Indy. “With his pedigree and where
we hope to go with him we wanted to bring him back around two turns, but
this time a year in Florida you can run into a tough spot like this
with horses like Todd’s (Pletcher - El Padrino) and Nick’s (Zito –
Casual Trick) in there.
“What you basically have here is an ‘a other than’ (allowance) with a
$50,000 purse that’s a Grade 3. He’s trained exceptional. We could have
gone to the Sam Davis ($250,000 (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 4) for
more money, but that’s a tough track to ship into and run. My biggest
concern Sunday is the weather. He loves a ‘sloppy’ track, but I’m not
going to get his season started on a wet track.
“We still have to be concerned at some point about having enough money
(Graded earnings) to get into the Derby, but if he doesn’t get that in
his next race or two after this one, he doesn’t belong there anyhow.”
Take Charge Indy is a regally-bred colt by A.P. Indy out of multiple
Grade 1 winner Take Charge Lady and made four starts last year,
concluding with a respectable fifth-place finish behind Hansen in the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Nov. 5, beaten 6 ¼ lengths for it all. He
had finished second in the Arlington-Washington Futurity (G3) and
fourth in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland prior to the
Breeders’ Cup.
El Padrino was favored in all three of his starts last year for
Pletcher, the last a strong finish to be third in the nine-furlong
Remsen Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct on Nov. 26, beaten three-quarters of a
length for it all. The chestnut colt by Pulpit was a $210,000 Keeneland
September purchase and had broken his maiden going a mile at Belmont
Park on Oct. 29 by 12 ¾ lengths over a ‘sloppy’ track.
Casual Trick was a $425,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase and
just missed by a half-length when second last out in the new $100,000
Gulfstream Park Derby over the track and distance on New Year’s Day. The
son of Bernardini was impressive breaking his maiden going a mile at
Churchill in mid-November after a fifth-place debut at Saratoga in late
August.
Completing the field for the race are ARS Racing’s Bartolome, Edgar
Prado; Dogwood Stable’s Big Screen, Rajiv Maragh; Em Fleur’s A Boy Named
Em, Julien Leparoux; Poplar Hill Equine’s Gaelico, Ramon Dominguez; Jim
Tafel’s In the Beat, Emma-Jayne Wilson; and Jacks or Better Farm’s
Argentine Tango, Luis Saez.