Foot healed, Charge It to make Sunday return

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Charge It, unraced since getting a 111 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the Dwyer by 23 lengths last July at Belmont Park, figures as a huge favorite when returning to action in the eighth race Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

Charge It missed the balance of his 3-year-old season because of a nagging foot injury.

“We had complications with it, but that’s all behind us now,” said his trainer, Todd Pletcher.

Charge It is one of seven older horses in the $87,000, second-level allowance going 1 1/16 miles.

Palm Meadows track repairs

Regular training was scheduled to be disrupted for at least several days this week at the Palm Meadows training center for resurfacing work on parts of the 1 1/8-mile main track.

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Palm Meadows, located in Boynton Beach, is owned and operated by 1/ST Racing, the owners of Gulfstream. Work began Monday afternoon and was tentatively expected to be completed by Friday afternoon, according to Gulfstream vice president Mike Lakow. In the meantime, horses are being restricted to jogging on “the L,” a long straightaway chute adjacent to the main track proper. Training on the turf also was suspended.

Palm Meadows, which opened in November 2002, can accommodate stabling for about 1,600 horses and currently is at nearly 90 percent capacity, Lakow said.

◗ Cindy Hutter, who suffered a serious brain injury in a training accident last July at Saratoga, continues to make progress on her road to recovery. On Sunday, Hutter made her first visit since the accident to the Palm Beach Downs stable of her husband, trainer George Weaver, according to photos on social media showing her hand-feeding a horse.

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