Aqueduct: Gyarmati looks forward

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Leah Gyarmati was planning to run Busanda runner-up Scatoosh in the Busher Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct, but the filly suffered a catastrophic breakdown in a workout on Feb. 18. Scatoosh, a daughter of Scat Daddy who brought $150,000 as a yearling, had one win and four seconds from seven starts.

“She’s probably the one horse in the barn I’d never had a single soundness issue with,” Gyarmati said.

Gyarmati said that exercise rider Mario Hernandez, aboard Scatoosh in that workout, remains in the hospital and will likely have surgery to repair two fractured vertebrae.

Meanwhile, Gyarmati said that In Equality, sixth in last Saturday’s Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, was scheduled to return to her Belmont Park barn on Friday and will likely get a freshening before pointing to a spring/summer campaign, potentially on the turf.

On Tuesday, Adventist, the third-place finisher in the Withers, worked five furlongs in 1:02.40 in preparation for an expected start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes on March 5.

“The track was pretty slow – maybe not as slow as it has been – but I was happy with the time,” Gyarmati said. “He started off real easy, came home really good, galloped out good. I’ll probably have one more breeze and maybe stick him behind a horse.”