Trainer Christophe
Clement has a solid contender in the La Prevoyante with Cheetah and may have
the favorite in the Tropical Turf Handicap with Brushwood Stable’s 4-year-old colt Mr. Ryder and Joe Bravo in the saddle after they teamed up for a strong third-place
effort last out in the Knickerbocker Stakes (G3) on ‘yielding’ turf at Belmont on Oct. 15, beaten
less than a length for it all.
Mr. Ryder is a
chestnut son of Giant’s Causeway purchased for $800,000 at the Keeneland
September yearling sales and had won three straight before the Knickerbocker –
allowance races at Belmont and Monmouth Park and the Sussex Stakes at
Delaware Park – all on turf.
Trainer Todd
Pletcher has a contender with Black Rock Stable’s 3-year-old Silver Medallion
and Javier Castellano named to ride. The son of Badge of Silver finished a game
third last out in the Commonwealth Turf (G3) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 after a runner-up effort in an
allowance race at Woodbine
in early October in his first start for Pletcher.
Silver Medallion
was trained last winter by Steve Asmussen, winning the Eddie Logan Stakes on
turf at Santa Anita and the El
Camino Real Derby (G3) on the Tapeta synthetic track at Golden
Gate Fields in February. He went on to finish fourth in the Santa Anita Derby
(G1) in April and fourth in the Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland later that
month before heading to the sidelines until the Woodbine allowance.
Certain to attract
attention while making his stakes race debut in the field of nine drawn for the
Tropical Turf will be Frank Calabrese’s 6-year-old gelding Chosen Empire with
Elvis Trujillo named to ride for trainer Nick Canani.
A son of Empire
Maker, Chosen Empire was a $30,000 claim at Gulfstream Park in April and has
won all four of his starts since by clear margins, beginning with a $25,000
claimer here at Calder in May, another $25,000 claiming test at Saratoga in
July, an ‘a other than’ allowance at Monmouth Park in August, and most recently
an allowance over the Calder course on Oct. 7.
Completing the
field for the Tropical Turf are Willis Family Stable’s Grove Hall, Eduardo Nunez; Stronach
Stable’s Mobilizer, Jeffrey Sanchez; Boice Brook Stable’s Perfect Footprint,
Jaime Rodriguez; David Wilmot’s Stormy Lord, Justin Stein; Henco Inc. and
partners’ Tannersville,
Luis Jurado; and Robert Harvey’s Hollinger, Paco Lopez.