Bahama Halo seeks her first stakes win in Wait a While

When Todd Pletcher receives a son or daughter sired by More Than Ready he has come to expect an individual who is a eager and willing student. When Bahama Halo arrived in the trainer’s barn this past spring she met those expectations.

 

On Saturday in the $75,000 Wait a While at Gulfstream Park, the Pletcher-trained Bahama Halo seeks her first stakes win when she faces 13 rivals in the one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies. The Wait a While, named for the Pletcher-trained 3-year-old champion filly of 2006, is one of six stakes on the card designated for juveniles.

 

More Than Ready, a $1 million earner trained by Pletcher, won his first five starts as a 2-year-old. Bahama Halo, who was purchased for $350,000 by Let’s Go Stable as a Keeneland yearling, hasn’t produced those numbers, but she has shown plenty of promise since beginning her career in the spring.

 

“She was typical of a lot of the More Than Readys — precocious, intelligent, and caught onto everything pretty quickly,” said Pletcher, who is seeking his 14th consecutive training title at the 2016-17 Gulfstream Park Championship Meet. “We weren’t pushing her, everything just came really easy to her.”

 

Bahama Halo enters the Wait a While following a one-length victory at Gulfstream Park West in an allowance race on Oct. 23. She launched her career at Belmont Park by finishing fifth in a maiden special weight in late-May. She returned the following month and scampered to a facile win against maidens. After a fifth in her stakes debut in the P. G. Johnson at Saratoga Race Course, Bahama Halo finished third in the Our Dear Peggy Stakes at Gulfstream Park, her start before her win at Gulfstream Park West.

 

In both those races, Bahama Halo gained additional racing experience by navigating through traffic.

 

“She did get in a bit of trouble in the allowance race, but she was able to overcome it,” Pletcher said. “I actually thought she had the most trouble in the race before her last. She’s got a lot of experience now and she’s had a decent run over the course here, so we will step it up another level.”

 

Luis Saez rides Bahama Halo, who drew post 2.

 

Paz the Bourbon, whose dam is by More Than Ready, also seeks her initial stakes victory in the Wait a While. By freshman sire Mission Impazible, the runner-up in the 2012 Donn Handicap, Paz the Bourbon is trained by Mark Hennig for Bourbon Lane Stable.

 

Undefeated in two starts on the turf, Paz the Bourbon broke her maiden on the grass in her fourth career start. The New York-bred filly won her most recent outing in a turf race at Aqueduct over a yielding course. That race marked her first time stretching out to a mile.

 

“We’re supposed to get some rain here the next couple of days and that wouldn’t hurt my feelings,” Hennig said Wednesday. “When I saw it was supposed to be soft on the turf in her last start, I figured we were going to find out a couple of things about this filly. If she was going to struggle with the distance, it was going to be made even more difficult with soft conditions. But she handled it all well.

 

“I think she likes to settle and get covered up a little bit in her races,” he added. “She also seems to like to run through traffic, and this field is rather large, so it won’t be a problem finding traffic.”

 

Hennig named Julien Leparoux to pilot Paz the Bourbon, who breaks from post 13.

 

Completing the field are Queen Del Valle, Bitacora, Bonita Springs, Fifty Five, A Great Time, Bella Vincenza, Party Boat, Lady Alexandra, Silver Diva, India Mantuana, Lady Hansen and Create a Dream. Bill’s Legacy and Wedding Jitters are also-eligibles.

 

 

The Pletcher-trained Lemonist, a son of 1999 Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid who has been a prolific turf sire, was ultra impressive in his first grass foray and will now be asked to take it to another level in the $75,000 Pulpit, his stakes debut.

 

Lemonist is among the 14 2-year-old males entered in the mile turf race. 

 

A homebred for Wertheimer and Frere, Lemonist powered to a 9 1/4-length victory in a mile turf race at Gulfstream Park West on Oct. 29. The effort marked his second start and followed a fourth-place finish in a maiden race run in the slop at Monmouth Park in July.

           

“We felt like he wanted to give him a start and see how he did and he actually didn’t run poorly [in his first start],” Pletcher said. “He needed the race, and then we figured why try to be too cute, just start him on the turf with him being a Lemon Drop Kid. First time on the turf, he won pretty convincingly. This was the next logical spot.”

 

Pletcher has also entered Master Plan who won his second start in a turf race at Gulfstream Park West, one week before Lemonist.

 

Lemonist drew post 11 and will be ridden by Edgard Zayas. Master Plan leaves from post 8 with John Velazquez aboard.