Company lines raise expectations for 3-year-old Balandeen

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Oaklawn-based 3-year-old Balandeen has seen his stock rise in the months since he ran second in the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. The race’s winner, McCraken, returned in his next start to take the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, while its third-place finisher, Guest Suite, went on to win the Grade 3 Lecomte.

Balandeen, meanwhile, has been working at Oaklawn, where he is scheduled to launch his 3-year-old season, said trainer Chris Hartman. The horse last raced Nov. 19, finishing fifth in the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot.

“We freshened him up a little bit for his 3-year-old year,” Hartman said. “We’re trying to get him geared up for his 3-year-old campaign. He’s had two works. Right now, he’s my best 3-year-old.”

Balandeen was a $110,000 purchase as a 2-year-old in training last April at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. The horse, who races for Joe Davis, is a son of Bernardini.

Balandeen has won two of six starts, with both wins coming in sprints at Del Mar and Churchill. He was always prominent in the Street Sense, finishing 3 3/4 lengths behind McCraken in the one-turn mile Oct. 30. Balandeen then made his two-turn debut in the Delta Downs Jackpot.

“I think we could have run third in that race if things could have fallen out just a smidge different,” Hartman said. “But it’s one of those things.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem with the distance. That’s always been my feeling about the horse. He has yet to prove that, but I don’t think he’ll have distance issues. His mother won the Fantasy here.”

Balandeen’s dam is Mamma Kimbo, who won Oaklawn’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies, the Grade 2 Fantasy, in 2012.