Bird Maker returns from five-month layoff in sprint feature
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Ian Wilkes firmly believes Bird Maker will be effective in the stakes ranks this year, but first things first.
“The main thing is to get her started toward that,” said Wilkes.
Bird Maker, who ran in three graded stakes last year at 3, will be returning from a five-month layoff when she faces 10 other fillies and mares on Thursday at Gulfstream Park in the featured 10th race, the last of three straight allowances on an 11-race card. Julien Leparoux has the mount.
Bird Maker has tended to fare better at distances longer than that of the $50,000 feature, a second-level race at 6 1/2 furlongs, so a primary question for handicappers will be whether this is a “needs the race” situation or if she can win straight off the bench.
“I am very pleased with how she’s doing,” said Wilkes. “We turned her out for about 60 days after her last race because things weren’t going quite right, and our timing got out of synch with her. There was no physical issue. We’ll most likely look for a stakes for her after this.”
The preceding allowances both are first-level races with $48,000 purses. Remarkable Teresa looks like the horse to beat in the eighth race, for older fillies and mares at six furlongs on the main track, while Isabella Sings is likely to be favored for Todd Pletcher in the ninth race, for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf.
First post Thursday is 1 p.m. Eastern.
KEY CONTENDERS
Bird Maker (Last 3 Beyers: 77-75-87)
◗ This Marylou Whitney homebred from the female family of Birdstone and Bird Town acquitted herself respectably in most of her nine career races and shows six Palm Meadows works since mid-January.
Sloane Square (Last 3 Beyers: 62-70-78)
◗ Blinkers come back off a gray filly who has been favored in all five career starts, including a disappointing Dec. 18 comeback in which she had no apparent excuse aside from it being her first start in seven months. She comes favorably drawn in the outside post with John Velazquez riding for Pletcher.
West Coast Chick (Last 3 Beyers: 66-81-84)
◗ Back-to-back wins last year were followed by a fifth-place finish in a Grade 3 stakes in late June, and that’s the last time she has raced. She has had seven works at Palm Meadows since late December for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito.
Celebrity Star (Last 3 Beyers: 80-37-66)
◗ Trainer Dave Kassen said he had tried to get this mare into a conditioned-claiming race, to no avail, before saddling her for a 28-1 upset in a first-level optional claimer on Feb. 5. She must prove that was no fluke.
Angel Code (Last 3 Beyers: 82-81-75)
◗ This rail-drawn filly has stair-stepped her way up to this level by winning 3 of 6 starts after coming under the care of Jorge Navarro, who continues to win races at a steady clip at this meet.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Angel Code. Trainer Jorge Navarro is 18-9-3-4 with a $3.45 ROI over the past two years in dirt sprints at Gulfstream Park with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 11 Sloane Square. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 13-1-4-1 with a $0.32 ROI over the past five years when taking blinkers off following a layoff of between 61 and 180 days. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan