Other Cheek, Best Plan Yet Take Aim at Tropical Park Derby

Other Cheek has produced a pair of graded-stakes placings to recommend his chances of victory in Saturday’s $75,000 Tropical Park Derby, a 1-1/16 mile turf event for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.

The Arnaud Delacour-trained colt is rated second in the morning line at 4-1 behind 7-2 favorite Smooth Daddy, himself a multiple graded stakes-placed colt, in an expected field of 14.

The effort encouraged his trainer.

“He’s going to get more focused. But it’s just the way he is. He’s a bit playful. He runs with blinkers and that tends to get him a little more focused,” Delacour said. “He’s lightly raced, so I think there’s room for improvement.”

Julien Leparoux has been named to ride Other Cheek for the first time.

Tropical Park Derby the Focus for Best Plan Yet

Best Plan Yet, who prepped on the dirt in the one-mile Aventura at Gulfstream on Dec. 7, returns to turf racing in the Tropical Park Derby.

“He seemingly doesn’t want the dirt, but the race was there and the distance was good,” trainer Stanley Gold said. “He likes this turf and he ran a bang-up race when he won the stake on it.”

Best Plan Yet, who captured the $90,000 Forty Niner over the Gulfstream turf in August, is a work in progress.

“I think he’ll keep getting better as long as he stays sound. Right now, even after all this racing, he’s not 100-percent focused. With this horse, I’ve tried no blinkers, little blinkers, big blinkers, covering everything up, covering nothing up.  He’s absolutely intent on looking around. He’s the classic ‘it’s not the destination, it’s the journey,’” Gold said. “If he’d just focus more. Part of his mind is not on running. He’s kind of responding to what you’re asking for, but he’s not giving you everything he’s got. I think as he gets older, he might become more focused.”

Gold reported that the Jacks or Better Farm’s homebred colt wore blinkers with a three-quarter cup in the Forty Niner and will wear the same equipment in the Tropical Park Derby.

“It’s kind of like a compromise,” he said. “It’s not covering up everything, but at least he won’t be focusing as much on what’s behind him.”

McGaughey Ready to ‘Party’ in Co-featured Tropical Park Oaks

Party Now, who broke her maiden and narrowly lost in the Sweetest Chant Stakes over the Gulfstream turf course, has been rated as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s co-featured $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.

The daughter of Tiznow came off a six-month layoff to capture an optional claiming event at Aqueduct by four lengths.

“Her last race was a really good race. We gave her some time off after her race in May and brought her to Fair Hill, and they did a good job of getting her ready down there,” McGaughey said.

Party Now debuted at Keeneland in Oct. 2013 with a close second-place finish before romping to a 4 ¾-length maiden score at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 2. The homebred filly owned by Stuart Janney III and the Phipps Stable came right back to finish second in the Sweetest Chant, in which she set the pace before coming up a half-length short. The Kentucky-bred filly moved on to Keeneland to win an April allowance before checking in fourth in the Wonder Again at Belmont in May. Party Now, who has been training at Payson Park, will be back on familiar turf Saturday.

“She broke her maiden and just got beat in a stake over it, so I think she’ll like it,” said McGaughey, who awarded the return mount to John Velazquez.

McGaughey reported that Honor Code, who recently returned from an eight-month layoff to win an optional claiming allowance at Aqueduct, is slated to return to the worktab at Payson Park Saturday morning. The Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) on March 7 is the probable target for his 2014 debut.