Kinsale King Switches Surfaces

Kinsale King, who made a comeback off a five-month layoff in the Bing Crosby Handicap on July 31, will take a step back in distance and change surfaces when he faces eight rivals in Wednesday’s $85,000-added Green Flash Handicap.

The Grade I, $250,000 Crosby was at Kinsale King’s preferred six-furlong distance and preferred synthetic surface (6-for10). The winner of the 2010 $2 million Golden Shaheen in Dubai, was last of six in the Crosby behind 1-2 finishers Euroears and Smiling Tiger.

The Green Flash is 5 ½ furlongs on the turf.

“You wish that it had been the other way around, this race before the Crosby,” O’Callaghan said Sunday morning. “But I ran him in there and thought he ran a bang-up race won in track record time. I’ve never run him back this close in a race but he blew out the other morning in :46 and change.

“He ran on the grass in Europe and ran well I thought. He loves synthetic and I want to stay there, but I want to avoid Smiling Tiger and Euroears right now and this is probably the best spot.”