Firespike targets Spiral Stakes

Because it’s a rare Kentucky Derby prep race still contested on a synthetic surface, the Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 21 seems likely to attract “niche” horses with success on such types of tracks. Some will be locals, while others may ship in after having run well on synthetic surfaces in California or at Woodbine in Canada.

Another horse, Firespike, is Spiral-bound by way of another direction – from Ocala, Fla., where he won the OBS Championship Stakes on Tuesday by 2 1/4 lengths.

Harvey Diamond of Skychai Racing, one of the owners in Firespike, said the plan for the colt is to run in the Feb. 28 John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway, followed by the Spiral.

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“He seemed to run very well on the synthetic at OBS,” Diamond said. “It seemed like there was a speed bias there for the first couple of races, but he came in and circled the field.”

A 3-year-old son of Flower Alley trained by Mike Maker, Firespike improved his record to 3 for 7 in winning the OBS Championship and recorded his second stakes victory, earning a 71 Beyer Speed Figure. He also won a stakes for Florida-breds on turf at Gulfstream Park West in November.

The OBS Championship came over a brand of synthetic surface called Safetrack, while the one at Turfway is Polytrack.

If Firespike makes the gate in the Spiral, it will be the second straight year that Skychai has owned a piece of a Spiral starter. It was partners in last year’s runner-up, Harry’s Holiday, who led in the stretch before being caught on the wire by the favored We Miss Artie.

Potentially improving the strength of the Spiral field this year is Keeneland’s change from a synthetic to dirt main track, leaving the Spiral as the richest Derby prep on a synthetic surface. Previously, the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland owned that distinction.

The next-richest Derby prep on synthetic is the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, a Feb. 14 race with a $200,000 purse. Top finishers from that race have shipped to Turfway to run in the Spiral in years past.