FIRST
TURN
NOVEMBER 19
DeFrancis dandy
by James Scully
The lull following the Breeders’ Cup is over with a total of
nine graded stakes races on Saturday and Sunday preceding a
terrific slate of big events over the Thanksgiving Day break.
Highlighting this weekend’s fare is Saturday’s $300,000 Frank J. DeFrancis
Memorial Dash (G1), which has attracted a dynamite field of 11 sprinters
to Pimlico.
A HUEVO (Cool Joe), a prime example of the training acumen of
Michael Dickinson, returns to defend his title in the six-furlong
DeFrancis, but he’s listed at 10-1 on the morning line against a
group of crackerjack rivals. Forego H. (G1) winner MIDAS EYES (Touch
Gold), who exits a 10th-place finish as the favorite in the
Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), drew the rail and is the 2-1 early
favorite.
The Bobby Frankel-trained Midas Eyes is eligible to bounce
back with a victory, but six furlongs has never been his best
distance and he’ll probably go forth as an underlay. CLOCK
STOPPER (Gilded Time) picks up Jerry Bailey in the saddle and is
the 3-1 second choice on the morning line, but he’s no six-furlong
specialist, exiting a sixth-place effort in the Breeders’ Cup
Sprint, and will be looking for his first stakes victory this
year.
It’s a good race to search for some value. The classy
millionaire SHAKE YOU DOWN (Montbrook), who finished second in
this event last year and will return off a six-month layoff for
conditioner Scott Lake, is listed at 8-1. The speedy ABBONDANZA (Alphabet
Soup), who opened a one-length lead through an opening half-mile
in :43 2/5 in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint before fading in the
stretch, captured the six-furlong Hirsch Jacobs S. at Pimlico
earlier this year and is posted at 12-1.
GATORS N BEARS (Stormy Atlantic), another horse for the course
by virtue of his easy victory in the six-furlong Maryland
Breeders’ Cup H. (G3) in May, comes off a commendable third-place
performance to Breeders’ Cup Sprint victor Speightstown (Gone West) in the
Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G2) and
looks like an overlay at 15-1 on the morning line. Even the 20-1
WILDCAT HEIR (Forest Wildcat) deserves consideration.
Winner of his career debut in 2002, Wildcat Heir finished
second in the Sanford S. (G2) in his second start and raced only
once over the next 22 months before returning to action for
trainer Ben Perkins Jr. this May. A six-furlong specialist,
Wildcat Heir has improved over his last four outings, earning
BRIS Speed ratings of 108 and 107 in his last two, and could
continue to show more on Saturday.
A Huevo didn’t face deep competition last year at Laurel Park
like he will this time around in the DeFrancis and is very old (eight).
But nobody should be shocked if the gelding somehow gets the job
done. A Huevo finished first in his initial four career starts in 1999 and didn’t
race again for nearly four years until coming back last year in
August.
Dickinson made a name for himself worldwide with the exploits
of Da Hoss in 1998, but that venerable gelding was inactive
for only two years before winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) for
the second time. A Huevo was away nearly four whole seasons on
the miracle sidelines at Tapeta Farm. He came back to the races
this year with an unplaced showing in the Forego in early
September.
Dickinson tuned up his charge for the DeFrancis in last
month’s West Virginia Breeders’ Classic S., a nine-furlong event
that A Huevo won by 19 1/4 lengths. Not many conditioners use a 1
1/8-mile race as a prep for a Grade 1 event at six furlongs, but
Dickinson is unique.