Summit of Speed contenders lit up the official workout tab at Calder over the
weekend in their final preparations for the top stakes action to be held July 6.
Trainer Stanley Gold worked all four of his Summit of Speed nominees Saturday
morning with Christian Madera aboard.
Around 6:30 a.m. (EDT), Awesome Belle went four furlongs in :49. The
four-year-old filly is nominated for the Hollywood Wildcat Stakes at 7 1/2
furlongs on the turf.
“We try not to go too fast with her,” Gold said. “We know she has plenty of
speed and she’s plenty fit so we just want to maintain her where she is. She
went in :49 and out in 1:02 and that was before the break when the track is not
as fast as it is right after the break. The main thing was that she blew off a
little bit of steam and she came back good and she feels good so I was happy
with that.”
All three of Gold’s contenders for the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap worked
after the renovation break.
First up was Fort Loudon. The four-year-old worked four furlongs in :48 3/5.
“He’s a horse that you have to push to work,” Gold said. “He would like to
not do anything if he didn’t have to, but when you ask him there’s plenty there.
He’s responsive, but he’s the kind of horse that you could go around there in
three minutes if you wanted to. He did what we needed him to do and that’s why I
sent him out at 7:30 when it was more crowded and there was more for him to see
what was going on.”
The six-year-old Jackson Bend reached the second-fastest time of the morning
for four furlongs, clocking in at :47 4/5.
“This is his normal thing. He was pretty quick. He went :47 and change and he
came back full of himself,” Gold said. “He was happy to take off, go fast, and
come home and bounce around the shedrow.”
The five-year-old Grande Shores, a half-brother to Jackson Bend, made the
third-fastest time of the day for four furlongs, working in :48.
“The work that I liked the best was Grande Shores, because by the time he
went out it was almost a quarter to nine, 9 o’clock and the track is probably at
its slowest,” Gold said. “He is by himself, the track is empty, the track is
slow, and he’s still cooking right along.”
Awesome Belle was victorious in her most recent start in a one mile allowance
on the dirt at Calder after winning the Mairzy Doates at 1 1/16 miles on the
dirt in May. Fort Loudon finished sixth in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont
Park while running for trainer Nick Zito in his most recent start. In the Ponche
Handicap, the local prep race for the Smile Sprint, Grande Shores made a closing
move to earn the show.
Gold said that he hopes to run all three horses in the Smile Sprint.
Also working after the break were trainer David Fawkes’ two nominees for the
Smile Sprint — the half-brothers Apriority and Bahamian Squall.
The two went four furlongs in company with each other, clocking in a time of
:48 3/5. Apriority worked on the outside with Stephanie Laricci aboard, while
Bahamian Squall worked from the inside with Mike McCarthy aboard.
“I thought they would be good company for each other, and it worked out
perfect. Both of them got something out of it and didn’t overexert themselves,”
Fawkes said. “They went :48 and change and galloped out in 1:01 and change; I
thought it was a perfect breeze.”
Apriority finished sixth in the Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park while
running for trainer Bob Baffert in his most recent race. In the Ponche, Bahamian
Squall finished fourth as the post-time favorite, breaking fifth then quickly
taking the lead for much of the race, and then fading down the stretch.
Fawkes said that both Apriority and Bahamian Squall have pretty similar
running styles. They both are expected to run in the Smile Sprint.
Grade 3 Carry Back contenders topped the workout times on Saturday.
Sr. Quisqueyano scored yet another bullet workout for trainer Luis Olivares,
flying to a :47 1/5 time at the four-furlong distance with jockey Carlos Olivero
aboard on Saturday morning after the break.
“He did it pretty easy, so I hope he runs better than he did last time,”
Olivares said. “Last time he got hit in the gate, he had a little problem
around. Three-quarters of a mile is not his cup of tea, but we’ll probably run
him in the three-quarter of a mile. He’s training well; nothing wrong with him.”
Trainer Antonio Sano’s City of Weston worked the second fastest time at five
furlongs, going 1:01 1/5 with jockey Jesus Rios aboard.
In the Unbridled, the local prep race for the Carry Back, Sr. Quisqueyano
finished fourth as the post-time favorite and raced off the pace. City of Weston
made his bid from off the pace as well, closing strong down the stretch to miss
second by just a nose.
Also working Saturday morning was trainer Putyourdreamsaway, who is nominated
for the Grade 3 Azalea, who got five furlongs in 1:02 3/5. She finished second
in a one-mile claiming race on the dirt at Calder in her most recent start.
Trainer Herman Wilensky’s Anillo, who is nominated to the Carry Back, also
worked five furlongs, clocking a time of 1:03 1/5. He finished fifth in the
Unbridled.
On Sunday morning, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s Artefacto sizzled in his final
workout before the Summit of Speed, going four furlongs in :46 4/5.
Artefacto is nominated for both the Smile Sprint and the Bob Umphrey Turf
Sprint at five furlongs. In his most recent race, Artefacto reached victory by a
neck in a five-furlong optional claimer on the dirt at Calder on June 8.
Angelica Zapata skipped over the main track in her final work for the Summit
of Speed. With jockey Juan Leyva aboard, Angelica Zapata worked a five-furlong
bullet in 1:01 4/5.
“I thought she worked really good,” trainer Ronald Pellegrini said. “I told
Juan to just go about 1:02 and the track might be a little on the fast side
because she went a little faster than that. I was very pleased. She has natural
speed.”
While Angelica Zapata is nominated for both the Grade 1 Princess Rooney
Handicap at six furlongs on the dirt and the Hollywood Wildcat on the turf,
Pellegrini is favoring the latter for his five-year-old mare.
“We’re probably going to run in the Hollywood Wildcat. She can run on the
turf and if they take it off and it goes to the dirt, a mile on the dirt she
would like, too,” Pellegrini said. “I’m just afraid the track being so fast
favoring speed that she wouldn’t be able to catch up.”
In the U Can Do It Handicap, the local prep race for the Princess Rooney,
Angelica Zapata finished fourth as the post-time favorite, running off the pace
and advancing to no avail in her first start since last September. Angelica
Zapata closed out her 2012 campaign with four straight stakes victories at
Calder, all of which were run at distances of one mile and longer.
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