Fleet Eagle will be tough to catch in Sunday allowance
If Fleet Eagle can come close to reproducing the 100 Beyer Speed Figure he received for his blowout win going 6 1/2 furlongs May 17 in the $50,000 Governor’s Handicap in his first start at Emerald Downs, it is game, set, and match when he runs in an unrestricted allowance race Sunday. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew seven horses and headlines a 10-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Fleet Eagle, trained by Paula Capestro, is the only horse with a triple-digit Beyer at Emerald this year – Stryker Phd’s 99 for winning the Longacres Mile is second – and he was under pressure for the first half-mile before drawing away to win by 6 3/4 lengths.
Fleet Eagle wasn’t up to the challenge when he came back three months later and finished seventh in the Longacres Mile. He will appreciate the substantial class relief and the cutback to a sprint with Juan Gutierrez riding for the first time.
There isn’t any other pure speed in the field, and if he breaks alertly from post 4, he’s probably gone.
Key contenders
Fleet Eagle (Last 3 Beyers: 78-100-76)
* It is hard to go past Fleet Eagle. He showed a great affinity for this surface when he romped in the Governor’s, and he went into the Longacres Mile off a three-month layoff.
* He was in the Longacres Mile for a while and understandably faded after chasing a fast pace. He is going to be tough to handle in his second start back.
Del Rio Harbor (Last 3 Beyers: 86-83-82)
* The Marshall Allen trainee has increased his speed figure in each of his last four races, and he held on well to finish fifth after being close to the wicked pace in the Longacres Mile.
* He hasn’t won since he beat Noosito in the Coca-Cola Handicap as a 3-year-old last year. Nonetheless, other than his second-place finish behind the 2013 Longacres Mile winner, Herbie D, in an unrestricted allowance race July 4, he’s only been running in stakes races.
Remembertobreathe (Last 3 Beyers: 89-77-60)
* Trained by Sylvea Gregory, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby last year is coming off a good effort going a mile in an unrestricted allowance Aug. 16.
DRF Formulator fact: Over the past five years, Gregory has a 21 percent strike rate with horses going from a route to a sprint.
Botch (Last 3 Beyers: 47-86-78)
* Trained by Blaine Wright, he was on a roll before he had a rough trip in the same race that Remembertobreathe exits.