Hough Likes Adios Charlie's Dwyer Chances

With an eye towards a summer campaign that could include the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course, seven promising 3-year-olds were entered in the 1 1/16-mile Dwyer, which shares the holiday weekend card with the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap.

Heading the field is Robert Sahn’s Adios Charlie, who became a graded stakes winner in just his third career start, coming from off the pace to defeat Astrology and Justin Phillip in the Grade 2 Jerome on April 23. Subsequently second by a head in the Grade 2 Peter Pan on May 14, the Indian Charlie colt has turned in a string of bullet works at Saratoga Race Course and trainer Stanley Hough is delighted with his progress.

“As the Triple Crown races unfolded, it might have been nice to be involved, but everything has worked out for this horse,” said Hough. “I think the way it unfolded, I couldn’t be any happier. There are a lot of races for 3-year-olds, and a lot of choices, and I really like the way he is coming into this race.”

Adios Charlie, 2-2-0 from four lifetime starts, drew post position 7 in the Dwyer and will tote top weight of 122 pounds, including Rajiv Maragh, as the 6-5 morning-line favorite.

Another lightly raced colt with a promising future is the Steve Asmussen-trained Dominus, who was beaten a neck by Machen in the Grade 3 Derby Trial on April 30, his most recent start. The Smart Strike ridgling shipped into Belmont Park Wednesday morning in good order, said assistant trainer Toby Sheets, and his connections are hoping for continued forward progress in the Dwyer.

Julien Leparoux comes in to ride the Stonestreet Stable color-bearer,  2-1 on the morning line, from post position 2.

Shipping in from the mid-Atlantic for trainer Tony Dutrow is Tech Fall, who will be making his stakes debut in the Dwyer after compiling a 2-2-0 record from four starts. A maiden winner at Delaware Park last October, the Birdstone colt was second as the favorite to eventual Grade 3 Bay Shore winner J J’s Lucky Train to close out his 2010 campaign. After a setback early in the year which knocked him off the Triple Crown trail, Tech Fall won a one-mile, 70-yard allowance at Delaware on April 30 and finished second in a one-mile optional claimer at Parx Racing on May 30.

“Being by Birdstone, I think he needs more ground than he’s had the opportunity for so far,” said Dutrow, who trains Tech Fall for Michael Dubb. “This is a lightly raced horse and he’s improving. He still has a lot to prove, but we are hoping he will be a nice summertime 3-year-old, and that this race could lead to a two-turn, 1 1/8 mile race at Saratoga.”

Ramon Dominguez rides Tech Fall, 10-1 on the morning line, from post position 5.

Also making his stakes debut in the Dwyer is the late-running Cool Blue Red Hot, another whose connections shelved their Triple Crown aspirations early in the year after a pair of disappointing efforts at Gulfstream Park. Returning from a brief freshening in April, Cool Blue Red Hot was beaten a half-length in an optional claimer and then won a 1 1/16-mile allowance on May 19, both at Belmont Park.

“I don’t regret a thing that we did,” said trainer Angel Penna, Jr., who trains the Harlan’s Holiday colt for Jim Bakke. “In February, this horse was still a maiden winner. That’s when you start looking at the second half of the year. He wasn’t ready for that type of competition in the spring; maybe now he will be.”

John Velazquez rides Cool Blue Red Hot, 6-1 on the morning line, from post position 6.

Also entered for the Dwyer are, from the rail out, Malibu Glow, who broke his maiden over a muddy Belmont track on May 5; Harlan’s Hello, most recently fourth in the Grade 3 Pegasus at Monmouth Park on June 18, and the supplemented Rocking Out, who was second at Belmont facing older horses Wednesday afternoon.

The field for the Grade 2 Dwyer: