Air Squadron looks to avoid bounce in Friday feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The much-debated “bounce theory” will come into play when Air Squadron takes on five rivals in Friday’s $44,000 optional-claiming feature at Gulfstream Park.

Air Squadron earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure – almost a career best – in posting an easy four-length victory against a field of $8,000 claimers here March 8. The performance was a 42-point jump over his previous start and far better than any race on his résumé dating back to last 2014. The key question is whether Air Squadron will “bounce,” or regress, off the effort when he returns in Friday’s main event.

Trainer Jorge Navarro has given Air Squadron what figures to be an ample 40 days off to recuperate from the last effort, but by doubling the claiming tag, he has entered him against a significantly tougher field Friday. Air Squadron has posted three works over a two-week span at Gulfstream Park West prepping for the outing.

Palatine Hill has been freshened a bit since finishing third following an awkward beginning going a mile against lower-level starter-allowance competition Jan. 29. Palatine Hill won five of nine starts a year ago and opened the 2015 campaign with a popular starter-allowance tally Jan. 11.

Katillac Charm might be the one to catch for the red-hot Jane Cibelli barn while breaking from the rail and stretching out around two turns off a series of sprint races.

KEY CONTENDERS

Air Squadron (Last 3 Beyers: 86-48-NA)

◗ Two of his seven victims in his last race returned to win their next starts, runner-up Lure of the South and last-place finisher Tiz Time Is Now.

◗ Navarro owns a 34 percent success rate, with a $2.06 return on investment, with horses coming off a victory out of a 278-race sample over the last three years, according to DRF Formulator.

Katillac Charm (Last 3 Beyers: 71-74-68)

◗ Owns a pair of bullet works at Gulfstream Park West since his third-place finish in a $25,000 claiming dash at Tampa Bay Downs on March 20.

◗ Has lost ground from the eighth pole to the wire in each of his last seven starts in races at a mile or longer, turf and dirt, dating to December 2013.

Palatine Hill (Last 3 Beyers: 80-78-73)

◗ He has won four of his six starts at 1 1/16 miles, one of those losses coming in the Skip Trial Stakes in July.

◗ He will be reunited with Edgar Prado for the first time since the pair combined to win a midlevel starter-allowance race going seven furlongs here 11 months ago.