El Grande O on comeback trail

El Grande O, a multiple New York-bred stakes winner at 2 who was briefly on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year, is working toward a fall return to the races.

El Grande O has three workouts since the end of August and trainer Linda Rice said she is hoping to make the New York Showcase Day program with him at the end of October. Depending how he trains over the next month, El Grande O would be eligible for either the $150,000 Hudson Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs or the $250,000 Empire Classic at 1 1/8 miles.

On last year’s New York Showcase Day program, El Grande O won the Sleepy Hollow at seven furlongs. In three starts this year, El Grande O finished second in the Jerome and the Grade 3 Withers, the latter at 1 1/8 miles, before finishing third in the Grade 3 Gotham to Deterministic.

El Grande O has not run since after suffering a setback in the spring.

“He’s coming pretty well,” Rice said. “He flourished with the time off.”

Meanwhile, Rice plans to run her impressive New York-bred debut winning filly With the Angels in the $125,000 Joseph A. Gimma on Sept. 22.

Limited Liability to Red Smith

Limited Liability, the dominant 8 1/4 length winner of Wednesday’s $500,000 Nashville Gold Cup at Kentucky Downs, could be pointed to the Grade 2, $300,000 Red Smith at Aqueduct on Nov. 9, trainer Shug McGaughey said.

After placing in eight stakes, Limited Liability finally got his first stakes win in the Nashville Gold Cup, a race run at 2 1/16 miles. He earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

“That was a lot of fun. I was glad,” McGaughey said. “He had been doing good, he had been running good. He was kind of unlucky.”

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.