Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint: D'Angelo hoping for a big bang from Howard Wolowitz
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DEL MAR, Calif. – Howard Wolowitz was only a maiden race winner when trainer Jose D’Angelo nominated the colt to the Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs in August.
The decision was met with skepticism.
“People thought: Are you crazy,” D’Angelo recalled Monday on the Del Mar backstretch. “I knew what I was doing.”
Howard Wolowitz won the $1.84 million Franklin-Simpson Stakes on Sept. 7 at 6 1/2 furlongs for 3-year-olds as the 3-1 favorite after a troubled fourth in the Mahony Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 11.
The win at Kentucky Downs has led to a scheduled start in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at five furlongs at Del Mar.
Howard Wolowitz, who races for Al Gold’s Gold Square LLC, was initially relegated to the also-eligible list for the Turf Sprint, which will be limited to 12 starters. Howard Wolowitz joined the field last week after Aesop’s Fables was withdrawn by Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Howard Wolowitz, named for a character on the popular television series “Big Bang Theory,” has won 2 of 4 starts. Although he won a maiden race at five furlongs on turf at Gulfstream Park in June in his first start for the Florida-based D’Angelo, Howard Wolowitz faces a daunting task in the BC Turf Sprint in a field that includes Cogburn, winner of three turf sprints this year.
“Cogburn is the horse to beat,” said D’Angelo, 34.
Howard Wolowitz will need a favorable draw, preferably away from the inside, D’Angelo said. He would like Howard Wolowitz to be close to the front at a distance below the colt’s ideal trip.
“I think he’s better a little longer than five-eighths,” he said. “I’ve tried to work him [to stay] closer. That’s his only chance to win. The draw will be everything.”
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