Discovery Next Target for East Hall
After weighing his options for East Hall, trainer Bill Kaplan has zeroed in on the $200,000 Discovery (G3) at Aqueduct on Nov. 1 as the next target for the Ohio Derby and Indiana Derby (G2) winner.
“We’re looking at the Discovery. It’s a mile-and-an-eighth and it’s 3-year-olds only,” said Kaplan, who trains the Florida-bred 3-year-old for Jack Hendricks and Roger Justice. “He’s doing so well he can come back in four weeks since his last race.”
The 3-year-old gelded son of Graeme Hall captured the $500,000 Indiana Derby on Oct. 4 with a late surge to prevail over pacesetter Vicar’s in Trouble by a length. East Hall had won the $300,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown in July.
“I’m extremely proud of him. He’s probably the easiest horse I’ve ever trained. He’s an absolute rider’s horse. In the morning, he does what the rider wants and, in the afternoon, he does what the rider wants,” Kaplan said. “You couple that with endurance and enough speed to be dangerous, you got a nice horse.”
Kaplan had always considered East Hall to be a nice horse, even when he came up short in the major stakes for 3-year-olds during Gulfstream Park’s 2013-14 Championship Meet.
“Most of his early races, he got in a ton of trouble in every one of them, especially in sprints. He always finishes strong. He finished strong in every race,” Kaplan said. “The owners had confidence in him. They made up hats: ‘East Hall Road to the Derby’ hats. Now they changed the hats to ‘East Hall Road to the Derbies,” because he won two derbies. They’re having fun with it.”
East Hall may be accompanied to New York by stablemate Naval Command, who is a candidate for the $200,000 Tempted (G3) at Aqueduct on Oct. 31. Naval Command finished fifth in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland last time out after winning three of her four previous starts, including a triumph in the $75,000 Happy Ticket at Louisiana Downs.
“Naval Command has outstanding talent. If she had East Hall’s mind, she’d be a multiple Grade 1 winner. She had tremendous talent, but she’s hard to train,” Kaplan said. “She’s the absolute opposite of East Hall. She’s a monster to train in the morning. She’s a work in progress who’s showing progress lately. I’m optimistic about that.”
Yet, East Hall wasn’t always the model of decorum. He proved so difficult to train before his career, that Kaplan said he had no choice but to have him gelded.
“I don’t even know if he’d still be around, as bad as he was,” Kaplan said. “He’s 100 percent different. I don’t think he would have made it as a colt. There’s no second-guessing that.”
Kaplan is also mapping out stakes schedules for a few other horses in his stables, including Moment of Delight, who is likely to run next in the $400,000 Delta Princess (G3) at Delta Downs on Nov. 22 or the $200,000 Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.
“She’s an outstanding filly. She’s a pure distance filly. She’s got a huge stride,” Kaplan said. “She’s a big, big filly, a long-barreled filly who’s maturing every day. She’s a filly who’s nice to train in the morning.”
My Point Exactly, who captured the $75,000 Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs on grass last time out, is possible for the $1 million Delta Jackpot (G3) at Delta Downs on Nov. 22 or the $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.
“He’s an outstanding horse. He doesn’t quite have the speed of Naval Command, but he has a terrific cardio-vascular. He’ll run all day,” Kaplan said. He won on the grass but I think he’ll be even better on dirt. He won his maiden race by more than 10 lengths.”
Kaplan said Ekati’s Phaeton, a two-time winner before struggling on the turf last time out, is being pointed to either the $90,000 Hut Hut (a mile) or the $90,000 House Party (six furlongs) at Gulfstream Park West on Nov. 29.
Source: Gulfstream Park West