Ambitious comeback spot for I Spent It

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.– The path I Spent It will go down this year at 3 will start to be determined on Wednesday, when he launches his season in the eighth race at Oaklawn Park. The winner of last year’s Grade 2 Saratoga Special, I Spent It will be moving to two turns for the first time in the one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up who have never won three races.

I Spent It will face six others, including Grade 3 winner Den’s Legacy, stakes winner Irish You Well, and the stakes-placed C J’s Awesome. The race was targeted for I Spent It’s first start since October for a couple of different reasons, said trainer Tony Dutrow.

“The distance was big, and the timing,” Dutrow said. “It’s a two-turn experience to see how we’re feeling about him being a two-turn horse. We’re not crazy about taking on older horses, but the timing and the distance were our best choices.”

Race 8

KEY CONTENDERS

I Spent It (Last 3 Beyers: 59-78-85)

◗ He boasts some of the best credentials on the Oaklawn backstretch as the winner of last year’s Saratoga Special.

“It was an amazing second race of his life,” Dutrow said. “For him to settle behind a wall of horses and come through the narrowest opening on the rail in only the second race of his life, I found it just so impressive.”

◗ I Spent It, a debut winner at Belmont Park, went on to run second in the Grade 1 Hopeful and sixth in the Grade 1 Champagne.

“He came out of the Champagne with a small chip in his knee,” Dutrow said. “We feel like that’s why he didn’t run well that day.”

Dutrow said the bone chip was removed shortly after the Champagne.

◗ I Spent It shows a series of strong works for his return, with the last three moves bullets at Oaklawn.

“Things have gone really well for him,” Dutrow said. “He hasn’t missed a beat. He really likes Oaklawn.”

◗ Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount from post 5 for the partnership of Alex and JoAnn Lieblong and Three Chimneys.

Irish You Well (Last 3 Beyers: 83-96-100)

◗ The winner of the Long Branch at Monmouth, he was fourth to eventual Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern in the Haskell in July.

◗ Irish You Well will be making his second start since July, both for Donegal Racing and trainer Wayne Catalano.