Fish Trappe Road points to Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn

NEW ORLEANS – Fish Trappe Road, who turned into one of the better 3-year-old dirt milers in the country last year, is nearing his 4-year-old debut, trainer Bret Calhoun said.

Last seen finishing third going 1 1/8 miles around two turns in the Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 25, Fish Trappe Road is working steadily at the Evangeline Downs Training Center. He posted a bullet five-furlong workout in 1:00.80 on Feb. 18 and is expected to race March 11 at Oaklawn Park in the $125,000 Hot Springs Stakes over six furlongs.

“I don’t know that six is ideal for him, but it’s a good starting point,” Calhoun said. “We’re looking at it as a prep to the [seven-furlong Commonwealth Stakes] at Keeneland.”

Fish Trappe Road, a New York-bred by Trappe Shot, was second in the Woody Stephens Stakes and won the Dwyer Stakes last summer at Belmont Park. He finished sixth in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga before concluding his campaign in the Oklahoma Derby.

“I think he showed in the Remington Derby he can go a mile and an eighth,” Calhoun said. “Those were really unfavorable circumstances. He had some bumps and bruises and was a little tired at the end of a campaign, and I couldn’t train him like I wanted.”

Calhoun said he has high hopes for Fish Trappe Road this year and that the horse is simply bigger and stronger and better able to take training and racing.

“That’s the key. Who knows if he’ll be better this year or not, but there’s just way more horse now than there was before,” Calhoun said. “He was a very, very immature 2-year-old and even 3-year-old both physically and mentally, and I thought we were fortunate to get done what we got done. I always thought if we could get through to this year, we’d have a chance of really having a top horse.”