Catapult should show true talent in Danger's Hour

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Catapult won the last turf stakes of 2016 on the New York Racing Association circuit when he took the Gio Ponti Stakes at Aqueduct by 1 1/4 lengths. On Sunday, Catapult will try to win New York’s first turf stakes of 2017 in the $100,000 Danger’s Hour Stakes at Aqueduct.

Eight were entered in the Danger’s Hour, though Greenpointcrusader was entered for the main track only. The weekend forecast called for dry weather.

Catapult, a son of Kitten’s Joy trained by Chad Brown, is making his second start of the year in the Danger’s Hour, run at one mile. On Feb. 11, Catapult finished fourth as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

“He didn’t ship well,” said Brown, who sent the horse from Palm Meadows to Tampa. “He got himself worked up, and in the paddock, he got worse, and by the time he loaded in the gate, he was quite washed out. He didn’t fire. He’s a better horse than that. Hopefully, he handles himself better this time around.”

Catapult has improved since Brown added blinkers to the colt’s equipment last year. From four starts with blinkers, he has two wins and a narrow loss when third in the English Channel Stakes.

Macagone returns to Aqueduct, where he has won three of four starts, including last year’s Danger’s Hour and last fall’s Artie Schiller, a race he won at odds of 34-1. Macagone will be dropping into a listed stakes after two noncompetitive efforts in graded company at Gulfstream. He did have trouble in the Canadian Stakes, where he finished last of nine.

Gold Shield, a 5-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro trained by Shug McGaughey, makes his stakes debut in the Danger’s Hour. He won a second-level allowance going 1 1/16 miles at Tampa on March 11. He is cutting back to a mile, which McGaughey doesn’t think will be his best distance.

“I think he’s a lot sounder now than he’s ever been,” McGaughey said. “He trained really well over the winter. A mile is not his deal, but there wasn’t really anyplace else to run him. I didn’t want to take him to Keeneland and run him a mile and a half off one race. This looks like the right kind of spot for him, and if he runs back to the way he trained, even going a mile, he’ll be pretty formidable.”

Cage Fighter, Il Segreto, Elrigh, and Edge of Reality complete the field.