Azar could be sitting on a good one

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Many handicappers believe that a horse’s third start following a layoff is usually his best. That rule of thumb makes Azar and Semblance of Order appealing in Wednesday’s $44,000 main event at Gulfstream Park, to be decided under second-level allowance conditions at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Azar is one of two members in the field who have placed in graded stakes, along with Wayward Kitten. Azar, trained by Todd Pletcher for Alto Racing, was idle from July 9 until Feb. 10, when he finished a troubled 12th and last in a tougher optional-claiming race here.

He showed improvement with that race under his belt, finishing third, beaten a length by the stakes-placed Brass Compass, three weeks later under conditions similar to Wednesday’s headliner.

Azar, second, beaten a neck by Oscar Nominated, in the Grade 3 Spiral a year ago, went to the sidelines following a fourth-place finish last summer at Monmouth Park in the Long Branch Stakes.

“He kind of tailed off and needed a little R and R,” Pletcher said regarding the seven-month layoff. “He seems to be rounding back to top form now and should run well, even though this looks like a good, competitive race for such a short field. He is adaptable, so hopefully he’ll be able to work out a good trip.”

Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard Azar for the first time Wednesday.

Semblance of Order was away from April 21 until late January and returned to finished off the board in a pair of allowance races here this winter for trainer Jena Antonucci. Lightly raced, Semblance of Order has registered his only two wins over the local course and could be sitting on a career-best effort in this spot.

Wayward Kitten should vie for favoritism with Azar while dropping back in against second-level allowance company for the first time since finishing third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, as an even-money favorite last fall at Keeneland. Wayward Kitten, 5, finished third in the Grade 3 Jefferson Cup at Churchill Downs during the fall of his 3-year-old campaign.

Made in Detroit and High Security should contest the early pace.

Made in Detroit comes off a seventh-place finish in a very strong field, beaten just 2 1/2 lengths by the winner, Highland Sky, here on Feb. 25. High Security has won his last two starts but is taking a big jump in company after narrowly defeating $50,000 starter-allowance competition two months ago.

Wait flaunts his speed

Wait came within 0.54 seconds of equaling Big Drama’s six-furlong track record in winning Sunday’s allowance feature by three lengths under jockey Edgard Zayas. Wait, a homebred son of 2006 Eclipse Award winner Wait a While owned by Alan Cohen’s Arindel Farm, covered the distance in 1:08.76 over what has been a lightning-fast main track.

Wait was coming off an eighth in a 7 1/2-furlong turf race here and a third in an optional-claiming sprint here won by Malagacy, who went on to win the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.

“His last race was a throw-out because he didn’t want to go two turns,” said trainer Stanley Gold. “The race before, he’d been off a while, and he got a little tired.”

◗ The Rainbow 6 was hit for the second time since last Wednesday, the beginning of the spring-summer meet, when one lucky bettor took down the entire $90,631 jackpot on Sunday. The 20-cent wager had gone unsolved for 27 consecutive days before a mandatory payout of the pool April 2, closing day of the 2016-17 championship session.