Harpoon Looks to Break Through in Quick Call

Trainer Todd Pletcher's Harpoon will look to break through in the $100,000 Quick Call on Thursday at Saratoga Race Course.

The 5 ½-furlong Quick Call, a turf sprint for 3-year-olds, will be the shortest Harpoon has run since his debut, which came last summer on closing day at the Spa. The son of Tapit flashed ability while in Florida this past winter, taking a maiden race by 5 ¼ lengths at Gulfstream Park and finishing second by a nose in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. Harpoon turned in two subsequent disappointing performances when back in New York for the Grade 3 Gotham and Grade 1 TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, which prompted Pletcher to try turf for the first time with the gray/roan colt on June 1 at Belmont Park.

In his turf debut, Harpoon lagged behind a dawdling early pace and could only manage to pick off a few horses in the stretch to finish seventh. He found himself much closer to the pace in his second turf start when he finished third in a seven-furlong optional claimer at Belmont.

"He's a horse that's frustrated us and we're trying to figure out what his niche is," said Pletcher. "I think there's more talent there and we just haven't been able to get it."

The Quick Call will be a significant turnback in distance for Harpoon, but Pletcher believes his colt may get a favorable setup.

"There's a lot of speed in the race, so he should be able to come from off the pace," said Pletcher. "It's a small field, so we're taking a shot. He's shown hints of having talent and we thought his sprint on the turf last time was good."

Harpoon, 7-2 on the morning line, will be ridden by Javier Castellano from post 2.

Also entered in the Quick Call are Pure Sensation (3-1), Escapist (8-1), Good Bye Greg (4-1), Favorite Tale (5-2), Glacken Too (12-1) and Choctaw Chuck (15-1).