Coronation: Cool Gator on improve

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Cool Gator should be tough going from open to restricted company Sunday at Woodbine in the $250,000 Coronation Futurity. The nine-furlong race has lured just six Canadian-bred 2-year-olds.

Cool Gator, a Macho Uno colt trained by Danny Vella, was never in contention when he debuted at six furlongs. He woke up when he stretched out to a mile and 70 yards on Sept. 15, winning his maiden with a wide rally after getting away slowly.

Most recently, in the Grade 3 Grey Breeders' Cup Stakes, Cool Gator came wide from fifth to hook up with Globetrotter nearing the eighth pole. They dueled to the wire, and Globetrotter prevailed by a head.

Emma Wilson rode Cool Gator in each of his three starts, and has been an eyewitness to his remarkable improvement.

"Danny always liked him," Wilson said. "He showed his inexperience in his first start - his 'colty' behavior - but we figured that if he could overcome that and show his true potential, that he'd be a tough horse. He did that in his second race - improved by leaps and bounds. In that last race, he'd never been asked to dig in that hard before, and I think it took until the last five or six jumps before he realized what I was asking of him."

Cool Gator worked three-quarters in 1:13.80 last Sunday under Wilson.

"He worked awesome," said Wilson. "He's doing very well."

Deputiformer should be well backed off his maiden victory Oct. 14 in the 1 1/16-mile Cup and Saucer Stakes. Trainer Mike DePaulo credited Jono Jones with a good ride aboard Deputiformer in the Cup and Saucer, a one-turn grass race.

"I asked Jono to take him back and to save as much ground as he could," DePaulo recalled. "Down the lane, he tried to swing out to the better part of the course, which was on the crown. He showed a lot of courage."

DePaulo believes Deputiformer, a son of Silver Deputy, should handle a two-turn distance on the Polytrack.

"He's run good races on the Polytrack," said DePaulo. "I think the distance will certainly suit him. He's out of a Dynaformer mare, and Silver Deputy has sired the odd good [route] horse."

Kesagami got a Beyer Speed Figure of 80 when he graduated over seven furlongs Oct. 6.