Eagle should handle field in Gold Cup

STICKNEY, Illinois – The Hawthorne Gold Cup is back after a one-year absence, and that could be good news for Eagle.

Eagle, a Will Farish homebred trained by Neil Howard, can’t handle top-echelon older horses, but there are none in the Grade 3, $150,000 Gold Cup, which drew eight entrants, among which only Scuba can come close to Eagle’s level of accomplishment.

“Mr. Farish and I discussed things and this looked like a good spot,” Howard said. “We were looking to do something other than a Grade 1 like a Clark, and at the same time find something that would fit in and give him a pretty good gap between races.”

Eagle’s last race was not nearly his best, a distant fifth-place finish in the Grade 3 Lukas Classic at Churchill, but that Sept. 23 race was Eagle’s third without a break of more than four or five weeks, and he is a horse that seems to run well fresh.

“It seems like when he has a good gap between races he tends to throw down his ‘A’ game,” Howard said.

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Eagle has won only once in seven starts this year, but all have come in stronger company than he meets Saturday, though Eagle is 2-0-0-0 in 1 1/4-mile races such as the Gold Cup. Jockey Ty Kennedy, who’s ridden only five graded stakes in his career and has yet to finish third or better, rides Eagle for the first time.

Scuba had an excellent 2016 campaign in truly long-distance dirt races, but has failed to come back to that form this year, and after going 3-4-1 from eight starts in 2016, Scuba is 0-1-0 from six races in 2017. He showed signs of life finishing second in the $100,000 Birdstone at Saratoga, but regressed and was badly beaten in his two most recent starts. Even at his best, Scuba needed at least 1 1/2 miles for a peak performance.

Futile, claimed for $32,000 last out by trainer Chris Hartman for owners Jackie Rojas and Chris Wilkins, rates a long look despite his lack of credentials. Futile made his first 10 starts in sprints, performed modestly when tried in a turf mile, but has won his last two starts, his first going two turns on dirt, in eye-catching fashion. Futile scored by almost seven lengths in the Nov. 9 race from which he was claimed, and though Futile is a late-season 4-year-old, his ceiling in two-turn dirt races remains unknown, and he could wind up controlling the Gold Cup pace from an inside draw.

Hay Dakota, Side Pocket, Volgograd, Van Damme, and Empirestrikesagain complete the field.

The Gold Cup is carded as race 6 of 9 with a scheduled post time of 5:30 Central. Clear conditions with a high temperature in the mid-40s are forecast Saturday.

Puntsville, Goneghost formidable

The fast, consistent, and admirable mare Puntsville is a standout in the $100,000 Powerless Handicap, one of two Illinois-bred sprint stakes supporting the Gold Cup.

Puntsville must shoulder 126 pounds in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares, giving nine to 14 pounds to her seven rivals, but if she runs to form the weight won’t beat her.

Five-year-old Puntsville, bred and owned by Steve and Diana Holland’s S.D. Brilie L.P. and trained by Michele Boyce, has won half her 20 starts and finished second four times. She might actually be even better at sprint trips shorter than Saturday’s six furlongs, but she’s 8-1-0 from 10 such starts and has never lost in three Hawthorne races.

Puntsville’s 3-year-old brother, Devileye, is one of seven entered in the Powerless’s companion race, the $100,000 Lighting Jet for Illinois-breds at six furlongs. After winning his first five starts, Devileye finally tasted defeat, finishing second Nov. 4 at Hawthorne in the Buck’s Boy over 1 1/16 miles, and the horse that beat him there, Goneghost, is back in the Lightning Jet.

Goneghost has won both his starts over a route of ground but probably is an even better sprinter. Jockey Victor Santiago will have to work out a trip from the rail, but Goneghost has won four of five Hawthorne starts, his only defeat a total-no show this past spring at Hawthorne in the Robert S. Molaro Stakes. Goneghost broke through the gate before the Molaro’s start, which probably dampened his performance, and if he breaks well Saturday, Goneghost should run his record to nine wins from 12 starts, all for owner-breeder Bill Stiritz and trainer Scott Becker.