Highball, Poker Player Sent to Tackle Woodchopper
{{monthName}} {{day}}, {{year}} {{hour12}}:{{minuteTwoDigit}}{{dayPeriod}}
Trainer Wayne Catalano knows how to win a stakes race or two and next Saturday the multiple Breeders’ Cup-winning conditioner will attack the $60,000 Woodchopper Stakes with two Gary and Mary West-owned colts – well regarded Highball and graded stakes winner Poker Player.
“We’re going to enter and run both Highball and Poker Player,” Catalano confirmed. “They both look good and are training really well. (Jockey James) Graham will be on Highball and I’m still looking for a rider for Poker Player.”
Highball has been well thought of since an impressive maiden win at second asking in June at Churchill Downs. That effort earned him a shot in the Grade III $200,000 American Derby, in which he finished third, and then the Grade I $500,000 Secretariat Stakes – a race that was arguably his best performance when finishing a respectable fifth to Coolmore’s subsequent Group I Cox Plate victor Adelaide. Since then the son of Lemon Drop Kid won a rich allowance at Kentucky Downs and then was a gaining fourth in the Grade III Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs.
Poker Player, on the other hand, was an early developing juvenile who won the Grade III $150,000 Bourbon Stakes en route to an eighth-place finish in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2013. This year, the son of the late Harlan’s Holiday has made only three starts – all in stakes – with his lone on-the-board finish being a second in the Listed $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes. Unraced since a sixth-place finish in the Grade III $200,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 19, he has been working well locally.
“We’re not too worried about the time off,” Catalano said. “He’s a good horse and we’ve been pointing toward the race.”
EAGLE WORKS TOWARD LECOMTE
William S. Farish’s Eagle continued his preparation for the Grade III $200,000 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 17 on Saturday morning with a good five-furlong move on the main track in 1:01.60 for trainer Neil Howard.
“It wasn’t anything earth-shattering,” Howard said. “He worked after the break in 1:01 and three and galloped out in fourteen and three. We’re trying to hold onto what we have right now with him while still moving him forward and not push him too hard. We know that once we get to January 17th there are no breaks.”
The son of Candy Ride is coming off a good third in the Grade II $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 29 and has won two of his four starts while never finishing worse than third.
Source: Fair Grounds Barn Notes
In the 10 days since the Breeders’ Cup Classic, word has filtered out about which runners will return...
If Whit Beckman was disappointed with Regaled 's third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, you wouldn't know...
This week's Prospect Watch showcases young horses with elite bloodlines making their racing debuts and early career starts....
Nevada Beach returned to the work tab Monday, just nine days after finishing seventh in the Breeders' Cup...
Grand Slam Smile posted Sunday's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure with a 142 at Del Mar in...