Bourbon War back on dirt in allowance feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A couple of horses with Grade 1 experience, Bourbon War and Scars Are Cool, will square off under allowance conditions in the best and richest of four allowance/optional-claiming races on Sunday’s 11-race program at Gulfstream Park.

Bourbon War returns to the main track and will likely be favored over nine rivals going one mile in the afternoon’s 10th race. The outing will be the first locally for Bourbon War since finishing fourth, beaten 7 1/2 lengths by Maximum Security, in the Florida Derby on March 30. Four weeks earlier, Bourbon War finished a fast-closing second behind Code of Honor in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

Bourbon War competed in the final two legs of this year’s Triple Crown, finishing eighth and 10th, respectively, in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Trainer Mark Hennig subsequently switched the son of Tapit to the turf when he returned to action in August at Saratoga, his best effort in three grass outings was a second in the restricted Better Talk Now Stakes.

Scars Are Cool made the jump right to Grade 1 company off his impressive maiden win last summer at Saratoga but never had an impact, finishing 10th, a dozen lengths behind Code of Honor in the Travers Stakes. He has found allowance company more to his liking in his last two starts, defeating entry-level foes over a wet track at Churchill Downs on Nov. 7 before checking home a troubled fourth stepping up to the next level there three weeks later.

Both Bourbon War and Scars Are Cool have similar running styles and will need a legitimate pace setup to be at their best. One rival who may hold a tactical advantage in that regard is Colour Guard, haltered for $50,000 out of his last start on Oct. 16 at Keeneland by trainer Jorge Navarro on behalf of Imaginary Stables. Colour Guard, a first-level allowance winner last spring at Churchill Downs, figures forwardly placed from the outset if breaking alertly from post 2 under jockey Rajiv Maragh.

Other key contenders in the main event include Canadian invader Magic Tapit, whose best career performance came in his only previous local start 11 months ago, Green Mansions, and Uncle Mojo.