Hidden Scroll can reignite hopes off the bench at Gulfstream

Hidden Scroll, a one-time Kentucky Derby trail buzz horse, is set to make his first start this week in more than eight months.

The 4-year-old Hard Spun colt was entered in an allowance optional claiming event Friday at Gulfstream Park, with the six-furlong sprint scheduled as Race 9 at 4:38 p.m. ET.

Hidden Scroll hasn’t raced since running third May 4 in an allowance optional claiming event on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Connections halted training after that race while the colt dealt with a lung infection, said Garrett O’Rourke, general manager for breeder and owner Juddmonte Farms.

Trainer Bill Mott added Hidden Scroll back to the work tab in October at Saratoga. The colt has worked consistently since November at Payson Park Training Center in Indiantown, Fla., where he most recently breezed a bullet four furlongs in 48 seconds Saturday.

“He seems to be healthy,” O’Rourke said Sunday. “… Now we’re basically just getting to where it’s back to seeing if he’s the horse that we hoped he was.”

Unraced at 2, Hidden Scroll debuted in marvelous fashion last Jan. 26 at Gulfstream. He romped to a 14-length victory over maiden special weight company, earning a 104 Beyer Speed Figure.

Hidden Scroll’s team then tried for a Kentucky Derby bid, but he was unable to earn the necessary qualifying points. The colt ran fourth at 6-5 odds March 2 in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and then sixth March 30 in the Florida Derby (G1).

Hidden Scroll never built on his flashy debut. He’ll try now to establish himself as an older horse.

“It’s getting him back to the races and making a plan from there,” O’Rourke said.