General Quarters returns to action at Fair Grounds

General Quarters is aiming for the New Orleans ‘Cap (EquiSport Photos) Blue Grass S. (G1) hero GENERAL QUARTERS (Sky Mesa), the Triple Crown veteran whose 76-year-old owner-trainer Tom McCarthy captured the public’s imagination with his one-horse stable, returns to competition for the first time since the Preakness S. (G1) in Saturday’s 8TH race at Fair Grounds. The six-furlong allowance/optional claiming test has drawn a field of seven. General Quarters, who had a chip taken out of his right knee after the May 16 Preakness, breezed a bullet three-quarters in 1:12 4/5 on December 10 at Fair Grounds in preparation for Saturday’s return to competition. “Fair Grounds has kind of a sandy track, and he just loves it here,” said McCarthy Monday morning during training hours. “Also, your program for four-year-olds is a lot better than Tampa’s, where I took him last season. He won the Sam F. Davis (G3) and finished fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) down there before I took him back to Kentucky.”

After his convincing 1 1/2-length success in the Blue Grass over Keeneland’s
Polytrack, General Quarters wound up 10th in the Kentucky Derby (G1). The gray
colt tried to rebound in the Preakness two weeks later, but checked in ninth and
was subsequently diagnosed with a bone chip.

General Quarters has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for his
reappearance. Jose Riquelme picks up the mount aboard the sophomore, who has
drawn in the middle of the field in post 4.

His most dangerous opponent figures to be the older sprinter TEMPO FIVE (Five
Star Day). Most recently runner-up in the Thanksgiving H. at this track and
trip, the Tom Amoss charge rates as the 9-5 second choice on the morning line.

Although General Quarters has not raced in a sprint since last January, when
he was second in the seven-furlong Pasco S. at Tampa, McCarthy believes that he
will run well and take a step toward bigger targets.

“I’m taking it one race at a time,” McCarthy said, “but if he runs as well as
I expect him to Saturday, the Louisiana H. (on January 23) and the Mineshaft H.
([G3] on February 20) are both possible, but I really brought him down here for
the New Orleans H. ([G2] on March 27).

“I’m hoping Saturday’s race will serve as a confidence builder for him after
those races in the Derby and Preakness,” McCarthy concluded.