Pool Play readies for dirt debut in Foster; Flat Out under
consideration
Canadian Grade 3 winner POOL PLAY (Silver Deputy), runner-up in the grassy
Elkhorn (G3) at Keeneland last out, worked a bullet five furlongs on the fast
main track at Churchill Downs on Sunday as trainer Mark Casse prepares the
Canadian-based veteran for his dirt debut in the Stephen Foster H. (G1) on June
18.
The dark bay six-year-old completed the distance under exercise rider Melanie Giddings in :59
4/5, easily the fastest of 24 at the distance on the day, providing Casse with further encouragement to move Pool Play
to the dirt after 27 races on synthetic and turf courses.
“He’s never ran on the dirt, but
he has a dirt pedigree,” Casse said by telephone from his base at Woodbine. “With him it’s all about the distance, and that’s why we went to grass. He’s never won a race on the grass, but he likes to go at least a mile and an
eighth or a mile and quarter.”
It has not been lost on Casse that
the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) will be run over the dirt at the
Louisville track on November 5.
“He’s trained just unbelievable
over the dirt at Churchill,” Casse said. “We figured we might as well find out now
because it could decide our plans for the fall.”
Pool Play has run well in three
starts, all on turf, this year. Along with his race in the Eklhorn, he was a
close fifth in the Pan American (G3) following a fourth-place run in the Mac Diarmida (G2), both at Gulfstream Park. His most recent
victories came over the Polytrack at Woodbine, where he closed out 2010 with a 1
1/16-mile allowance victory and the Valedictory
S. going 1 3/4 miles.
The well-traveled veteran also
finished a close second in last year’s Dominion Day (Can-G3) at
Woodbine and won the 2009 Durham Cup (Can-G3) over the same synthetic track. He has a career record of 5-6-5 in 27 races and has earned $582,429 in four
years of racing.
Casse, a three-time winner of
Canada’s Sovereign Award who earned the Churchill Downs’ 1988 spring meet
training crown during the early years of his career, believes
that Churchill Downs’ main track is kinder than most dirt ovals to horses that
have an affinity for turf and synthetic surfaces.
In Pool Play, Casse believes he
has a horse who fits Churchill Downs’ main track very well. A
string of solid works here since Pool Play’s arrival has strengthened that
opinion and made the Stephen Foster the veteran’s prime summer objective — and a
fascinating handicapping question for fans when that big race comes along.
“We had the Brooklyn ([G2] on Friday) at Belmont we
could go to, they wanted us to go the Manhattan ([G1] on the Belmont Park turf
Saturday),
but, to me, now is the time to find out if he can run on dirt.” Casse said. “If he can, they run a pretty big race
(at Churchill) this fall and the mile and a
quarter won’t be a problem for him.”
While the dirt question will garner Pool Play plenty of attention in the
Stephen Foster, FLAT OUT (Flatter) will be drawing attention of another kind if
he goes in the race. After long periods on the sidelines with troublesome
quarter cracks, Flat Out finished a strong runner-up in the Lone Star Park H.
(G3) on Memorial Day.
“He just ran last Monday and right
now he seems to have come out fine from the race,” trainer Charles
“Scooter” Dickey said. “So we’ll
just watch it and see if that’s (Foster) where we want to run back.”
After watching the veteran trainer’s work with the talented but
tender-footed Flat Out, few could ever doubt that Dickey is a
very patient man. But patience could be more of a
virtue in Thoroughbred racing than most any other endeavor, and that trait
appears ready to be rewarded with the fragile five-year-old.
Flat Out was sandwiched between
Grade 1 winners in the victorious Awesome Gem (Awesome Again) and third-place finisher Game On
Dude (Awesome Again) in the Lone Star ‘Cap, his first race since taking an
optional claimer at Fair Grounds in December.
The bay launched his
start-and-stop career with a bang when he notched his first career win in his
second start at Oaklawn Park and briefly entered the Kentucky Derby picture with
a stretch-running, 3 1/2-length victory in the 2009 Smarty Jones S. in his next
outing. A fourth-place finish in the Southwest (G3) and
a sixth-place run in the Arkansas Derby (G2) left his
connections with concerns about whether he would have sufficient graded stakes
earnings to compete in the Derby. But he was still candidate for the Run for the
Roses when a fractured shoulder sent Flat Out to the sidelines for an extended
stay.
It would be a year and a half
before Flat Out returned to racing with an allowance victory at Fair Grounds on
December. 5, 2010. His shoulder healed long
ago. The problem since then has been Flat Out’s feet.
“It’s mostly quarter cracks,”
Dickey said. “When we were waiting to go to the Derby, he had that crack
in shoulder, and since then it’s just been quarter cracks.”
Now Dickey will watch him over the next few days and assess Flat Out’s chances
for the possible debut in Grade 1 stakes competition in the Foster.
“He’s got such a big heart,”
Dickey said. “He’s just such a good horse to be around and to work with,
but when you can’t go, you can’t go. Hopefully he’ll stay
with us now for a while and we can run him a few more times.”