Abusive Gary returns from layoff as a gelding, switches to turf

DEL MAR, Calif. – When Abusive Gary returns from a nine-month layoff in race 9 on Saturday at Del Mar, he will be racing on turf for the first time, going two turns for the first time, and making his first start since being gelded.

Abusive Gary, by Boisterous out of a Wolf Power mare, sprinted twice at Santa Anita in January before going to the sidelines. Race 9 on Saturday is a one-mile grass race for older California-bred maidens.

“He showed a lot of talent early on,” his trainer, Phil D’Amato, said Thursday morning at Del Mar. “First time, he was really green. Second time out he moved forward.

“He’s bred top and bottom for grass, so we thought this was a good time as any to try him on the grass.”

D’Amato has runners in four races on Saturday, including King Abner, who goes for his third win in four lifetime starts at Del Mar in race 2, a one-mile optional claimer going a mile on dirt.

“He’s won going long on this track,” D’Amato said, referring to a front-running victory at the fall meeting last year on Nov. 15. “He’s doing good, but it looks like there’s a lot of speed in that race.”