Howard Pleased With Eagle's 'Great Effort' in KyJC
{{monthName}} {{day}}, {{year}} {{hour12}}:{{minuteTwoDigit}}{{dayPeriod}}
Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
While New York invaders El Kabeir and Imperia grabbed the top two positions in Saturday’s dramatic 88th renewal of the $233,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (GII), Churchill Downs-based trainer Neil Howard was still beaming Sunday morning over the performance in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Derby prep by his rising star Eagle.
Owner-breeder William S. Farish’s son of Candy Ride (ARG) lost momentum in traffic problems on the far turn, but once clear Eagle rallied strongly under Brian Hernandez Jr. to finish third, the quarters of a length behind the top pair.
The Kentucky Jockey Club was the stakes debut for Eagle, whose three previous races included a maiden victory in his debut at Ellis Park, a runner-up finish in a Churchill Downs allowance race and an easy win in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Keeneland.
“It was a really, really good competitive race and I thought it was a great effort,” Howard said. “We were all very pleased with the way he ran. Most importantly, Brian was more than satisfied.”
Howard saw Eagle steady along the inside as the 11-horse field made its way around the far turn. But Eagle’s run was so good that he saw no reason to dwell upon what might have been.
“When you lose a step or two on the turn like he did, there’s no room for losing even an inch of ground in those kind of races,” Howard said. “All in all, we were pleased.”
Howard’s career résumé includes a runner-up finish in the 1990 Kentucky Derby and a victory in the Preakness by Summer Squall, and he guided Mineshaft through a “Horse of the Year” campaign in 2003.
Eagle and the rest of Howard’s horses will leave Sunday evening on a journey to the stable’s winter quarters at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds. There will be ample opportunities there for Farish’s colt to prove if he is worthy of consideration for the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands at his home track on Saturday, May 2.
“We’ll look at the obvious races down there,” Howard said. “We’ll see how he does and plan. But they have the strong 3-year-old series (of races) down there, so that would probably be the most likely thing that we’ll be doing.”
Eagle collected his first “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points in his Kentucky Jockey Club effort, earning two points for his third-place run on the 10-4-2-1 “Prep Season” scoring system. His career record now stands at 2-1-1 in four races with earnings of $81,602.
Source: Churchill Downs Communications
Read More
Wolfie's Dynaghost , a 7-year-old homebred gelding for Woodslane Farm, led all the way under Luis Saez to...
Fully Subscribed showed her class in her stakes debut when she entered the stretch with a group of...
Juddmonte’s Kentucky homebred Disco Time was ultra-impressive when improving his record to 5-for-5 in Saturday’s $200,000 Dwyer , a...
Highplainsdrifter led all performers with a 136 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Del Mar, winning a $50,000...
Ragtime, the Grade 3 Dogwood winner who most recently placed third in the Raven Run (G2), breezed four...