Walder eager for Whats Up Big Guy's debut in tough Gulfstream maiden

Walder eager for Whats Up Big Guy's debut in tough

Gulfstream maiden

The current Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park has

already showcased several promising maiden winners that look to be prime

candidates for the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby, and Saturday's

8TH race may be the coming out party for additional future stars.

The $47,000 maiden special weight test, carded at six

furlongs, attracted a 10-horse field and will feature the debut of Whats Up Big

Guy, a son of Macho Uno owned by Eric Fein and trained by Peter Walder.

Fein was the co-owner of Musket Man, who won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay

Derby and Grade 2 Illinois Derby in 2009 en route to third-place finishes in

both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He purchased Whats Up

Big Guy for $70,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2012, when the big gray colt wound up being

the highest-priced yearling by Macho Uno that year.

Whats Up Big Guy has attracted his share of attention in

the mornings, earning bullets for each of his last two workouts at Gulfstream.

The three-year-old worked six furlongs in 1:11 4/5 on February 24 and followed that with

a half-mile move in :46 4/5 from the gate on March 5.

"The barn calls him 'The Freak,'" Walder noted. "I hope

he's the real deal. Hopefully, he'll show what he really is on Saturday. He's

just really smart. I was just telling the owner that he does everything right.

We schooled him and he was great, we took him to the gate...he does everything

like an older horse. He doesn't balk at anything, doesn't turn a hair, and he's

very smart.

"On top of that, every time I work him he just beats the

crap out of any horse I work him with," Walder added. "I've worked him with six

older horses. When he worked three-quarters in (a minute and) 11, he spotted an

older horse eight lengths and beat him. How often do you see a three-year-old that

hasn't started yet work three-quarters in 11?

"He came back and worked 46-and-two

out of the gate the other day with a horse that's already won. He's shown us the

signs that he's a runner in the morning, and hopefully that translates to the

afternoon."

Whats Up Big Guy is out of the Royal Academy mare Lady Prantlack,

whose half-brother Raffie's Majesty was beaten by two noses when third in the

Grade 1 Travers in 1998. They were both produced by the Irish-bred mare Raffinierte, whose career highlight was a runner-up effort in the The Very One

Handicap on the turf at Gulfstream.

"When Eric first gave him to me, he told me that he's got

grass breeding on the bottom side, but with the way he's been working and it

being March, the last thing you're thinking with a three-year-old is grass racing at

this time of year," Walder said. "Obviously, we have that in the back of our

minds at some point, but being by Macho Uno, he'll stretch out. The further he

goes in his works, the stronger he gets. I'm really looking forward to it."

Jockey John Velazquez has the mount on What's Up Big Guy, who drew post 4 and

is listed at 5-1 on the morning line.

While Walder is optimistic that the

sophomore will visit the winner's circle on Saturday, he regards the six-furlong

test as a stepping stone.

"If he wins on Saturday, that'd be great, but it's more

about getting him a good experience," Walder explained. "If he sits a trip and gets

second, and then we stretch him out and he wins, then so be it. It's a long year

and there's a lot of money to be made for three-year-olds. There's some nice ones

popping out, like (Manny) Azpurua's horse (Social Inclusion), but

by the same token, they're dropping out by the day, not the week. If he's as

good as I think he is, we'll take our time and pick our spots, and hopefully

have a long, fun, happy summer."

Social Inclusion scored first out on February 22 at

Gulfstream before making headlines with a track-record setting allowance victory

this past Wednesday, and could make his next start in the Florida Derby. Other

sophomores looking to make their initial stakes forays in Gulfstream's marquee

event include Constitution and Anchor Down, a pair of Todd Pletcher-trained

colts who are perfect in two starts at the meet thus far.

Whats Up Big Guy will have plenty of company in the

starting gate on Saturday. Also in the field is American Bond, a Tapit colt trained by

Pletcher on behalf of owner-breeder Siena Farm. Produced by the Grade 3-winning

Saint Ballado mare

Prospective Saint, the dark bay three-year-old will be ridden by leading jockey Javier

Castellano and will break from the 8 hole.

Favored at 3-1 on the morning

line is A Touch of Poetry, who returned from a six-month layoff to finish second

in a Gulfstream maiden on February 12. Trained by Nick Zito for owner My Meadowview

Farm, the Birdstone colt is out of Overandabeauty, a multiple stakes-placed

Grand Slam half-sister to

leading sire Tapit. Apprentice jockey Dylan Davis will be in the irons.

Drawn on the inside is Tuneintobow, a son of Concorde's

Tune who has been pitted against buzzsaws in each of his past two outings. The

Michael Yates trainee was runner-up to Anchor Down on January 25 before finishing

third to Social Inclusion on February 22. Hugo Sanchez has the mount once more.

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