Change of plans puts Fluid Situation in Gold Fever Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – A week ago, trainer John Terranova was prepared to try Fluid Situation two turns in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park. When that race got postponed due to bad weather and rescheduled for Saturday, Terranova had a change of heart.
Fluid Situation will now shorten up a bit in distance and run in Sunday’s $100,000 Gold Fever Stakes for 3-year-olds going six furlongs at Belmont Park.
“We decided to stay home and see how well he does here because we have one-turn races for the rest of the meet at Belmont,” Terranova said. “We know he’s fast. We weren’t sure yet about stretching him out.”
Fluid Situation didn’t show how fast he was until his third start when he won a seven-furlong maiden race on March 27 at Tampa Bay Downs. His final time of 1:22.04 was .19 of a second faster than King Cab covered the distance winning the OBS Sophomore Stakes two races later on the card.
Terranova only decided to send Fluid Situation to Tampa five days before that race and a few weeks after he had finished fourth in a six-furlong maiden race at Aqueduct.
“The Aqueduct track was deep, demanding and he couldn’t get his feet through it,” Terranova said.
Fluid Situation, a son of Warrior’s Reward, will break from post 4 in the field of six.
The key to the race could be whether Senbei runs. Trainer Christophe Clement said he could wait for the $125,000 Mike Lee on May 30, when Senbei would face New York-breds. Last year at 2, Senbei went 4 for 5 against New York-breds with three stakes wins.
Clement said he wanted to study the Gold Fever a bit more before making a final determination. Senbei, who has not run since winning the Notebook Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths on Nov. 21, is drawn on the outside with Manny Franco.
“My gut feeling is yes because I like the six furlongs, but I want to see how much speed there is,” Clement said of running Sunday. “Mine is fast. Don’t take his speed away – that’s his game.”
The potential for a speed duel could set things up nicely for Provocateur, who took advantage of similar circumstances to win the Hutcheson Stakes by two lengths at Gulfstream in March. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he likes how Provocateur has progressed in the near two months since that race.
“I like the way he looks. He’s put on some weight, his coat’s really good. Seems like he’s in good form,” Pletcher said.
Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Provocateur from post 3.
Don’t Wait Up is back in New York after running fourth in the Lafayette Stakes on April 16 at Evangeline Downs. Trainer Tony Dutrow is adding blinkers to Don’t Wait Up’s equipment Sunday.
Dance Code won the Parx Juvenile for Juan Vazquez last November and is coming off a three-month layoff following a fourth-place finish in the Rittenhouse Square on March 8 at Parx Racing. Runninsonofagun has won three of his last four starts, including a first-level allowance at Parx by 4 3/4 lengths on March 29.
The Gold Fever goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at 1 p.m.