Wertheimer et Frere’s Kentucky homebred Interactif was last seen
finishing a game third in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G2) at
Santa Anita on Nov. 7, and will likely be a solid favorite for his 3-year-old
debut in Sunday’s $125,000 Hallandale Beach Stakes.
Jockey Kent Desormoux rode Interactif in his last three of
five juvenile starts and retains the mount in Sunday’s 1 1/16 miles turf test
for trainer Todd Pletcher. The son of Broken Vow was beaten only three-quarters
of a length for it all by English-trained favorite Pounced in the Breeders’ Cup.
Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Interactif established his turf
stakes credentials winning the With Anticipation Stakes (G3) at Saratoga
in early September and the Bourbon Stakes (G3) at Keeneland on Oct. 11. He made
his first two starts sprinting on dirt, winning his debut at Monmouth Park and
finishing eighth after showing early speed in the Sanford Stakes (G2) at Saratoga.
Interactif’s chief rivals in the field of eight drawn for
the Hallandale
Beach
would appear to be J D Farm’s Bim Bam with Eibar Coa getting a return call from
trainer David Brownlee and Edgar Prado aboard Augustin Stable’s Cat
Park
for trainer Graham Motion.
Bim Bam is a Florida homebred son of Deputy Wild Cat that
showed considerable ability racing on the main track at Calder last year,
finishing third in all three open divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes
series behind Jackson Bend, punctuated by a stakes victory of his own in the
Foolish Pleasure Stakes before the In Reality finale of the FSS on Oct. 17.
In two starts since then, Bim Bam captured the $100,000
Arthur Appleton Juvenile Turf on Nov. 14 in his grass course debut and ran a
big one last out to finish second by a neck in the $100,000 Dania Beach Stakes
over the Gulfstream course on Jan. 16 by Nordic Truce, who is not coming back
in Sunday’s race.
Cat Park won his turf debut in a Keeneland allowance race
on Oct. 24 after breaking his maiden on the Tapeta synthetic surface at Presque
Isle Downs in August. The Pennsylvania
homebred son of Tale of the Cat finished third in the Grand Canyon Stakes at
Churchill Downs in late November and a close-up third last out in the Tropical
Park Derby (G3) at Calder on Jan. 1.
Completing the field for the Hallandale Beach are Joseph
Riccelli’s Asphalt, Rajiv Maragh; Roman Hill Farm’s Thunder Brew, Jesus
Castanon; Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Dean’s Kitten, Cornelio Velasquez; Gary
Aiken’s Lucas Brady, Cecelio Penalba; and Michael Sucher’s Our Champion, John
Velazquez.
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