For Cash primed for Speed to Spare

Trainer Dale Greenwood wasn’t planning to run For Cash in the $75,000 Speed to Spare Stakes at Northlands Park on Monday, but the 5-year-old son of Stephen Got Even convinced him otherwise.

“He came out of his last race in great shape, and he just couldn’t be training any better right now,” said Greenwood.

For Cash has won his last three starts and likely will be favored in the 1 3/8-mile weight-for-age stakes that drew eight horses. Older horses will carry 126 pounds, and the lone 3-year-old, Bodhisattva, gets in with 120 pounds.

For Cash is coming off a powerful performance in the $64,000 Westerner Handicap, in which he forced a moderate pace before drawing off to win the 1 1/16-mile race by four lengths. He earned a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure, and with only five starts this year, he’s still a relatively fresh horse.

The only time For Cash went the marathon distance of the Speed to Spare, he finished fourth against a strong field in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby in 2013. The winner, Broadway Empire, won the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby in his next start. The runner-up, Reporting Star, placed in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer last year and recently won the Grade 2 Play the King at Woodbine.

Greenwood wasn’t concerned about the distance.

“He caught a bad track in the Canadian Derby, and he just didn’t run his race,” said Greenwood.

For Cash will break from post 2 with leading rider Rico Walcott retaining the mount.

Key contenders

For Cash (Last 3 Beyers: 94-86-88)

The winner of the $200,000 Zia Park Derby in 2013 is on top of his game, and his 397 Tomlinson Figure for the distance suggests he’ll be able to handle four turns.

Killin Me Smalls (Last 3 Beyers: 86-84-93)

Trained by Ernie Keller, he finished second to Deadly Truth in the Speed to Spare last year, and he won back-to-back stakes before losing to For Cash as the odds-on favorite in his last two starts.

Wild Legend (Last 3 Beyers: 87-54-61)

A stakes winner as a 2-year-old in 2013 and again as a sophomore last year, he appears to be peaking at the right time for trainer Dale Saunders.

In just his third start this year, he came from a stalking position to finish second in the Westerner and came back to work a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.40 on Aug. 25.