Full fields in both Tropical Park Derby, Oaks
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the $140,000 Tropical Park Derby and its filly counterpart, the $140,000 Tropical Park Oaks, providing 3-year-old turf specialists around these parts one last chance to earn some black type against their own kind before the end of the season, it’s no wonder the entry box was filled to overflowing for both Saturday races at Gulfstream Park.
A field of 12, plus two others on the also-eligible list, was entered for the 1 1/16-mile Tropical Park Derby, led by old rivals Silent Heart and Cugino. Silent Heart is exiting an impressive 3 1/4-length victory here six weeks earlier in the Showing Up Stakes. Cugino was the second-place finisher, beaten a length by the 8-5 favorite Deterministic, in the Grade 3 Hill Prince at Aqueduct.
Silent Heart finished a head behind Cugino when the pair first met here in March in the Colonel Liam Stakes, the two finishing second and third while narrowly defeated by Abrumar going a mile over the local course. It was the first and only time Silent Heart had started around two turns before his breakout performance in the 1 1/16-mile Showing Up.
“I’d been looking forward to stretching him out again in his last race, and the way he ran, it gave me the impression there might be even more to him,” trainer Brian Lynch said of Silent Heart’s performance in the Showing Up. “He’s been doing really well since, acting sharp and kind of looking for the entry box. So I get the feeling he’s sitting on another big race.”
As for his rematch with Cugino, Lynch agrees that rival is likely the one to beat but feels he might have a tactical advantage considering his horse’s running style.
“I think we should be sitting a little more forwardly placed,” said Lynch. “Hopefully we can get the first jump and have enough left to hold him off at the end.”
The nine-furlong Hill Prince was the second Grade 3 placing of the year for Cugino, who was beaten a nose by Neat in the Transylvania last spring at Keeneland. Cugino, whose only victory in seven starts thus far at 3 came in the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs, earned a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure in the Hill Prince.
In a Jam, who finished a distant second in the Showing Up and has not been worse than second in five starts over the local course, will try his luck against Silent Heart once again. He is one of two horses trainer Mark Casse entered in the race along with Grade 2 winner Can Group.
Live High Live Low appears to be peaking at the moment and figures to have a major say in the early pace scenario. He breaks from the rail while stretching out off a pair of well-graded runner-up finishes going six furlongs at Aqueduct this fall.
Tropical Park Oaks
Lynch also trains Kalispera, one of the dozen 3-year-old fillies who will start in the Tropical Park Oaks. She is seeking to bounce back from a couple of disappointing efforts following her third-place finish in the Grade 3 Pucker Up at Ellis Park on Aug. 4.
“I might have run her a little farther than she wanted to go at Kentucky Downs after she ran so well in the Pucker Up and then she didn’t get the best trip last time at Keeneland [in the Grade 2 Valley View],” said Lynch. “I think there’s probably a bit more to her than those races show.”
The Tropical Park Oaks came up an extremely wide-open event from a handicapping standpoint, with one of the key questions to answer being what to expect from Life’s an Audible and Waskesiu, major players at their best. However, neither has raced since early March.
Life’s an Audible has been idle since finishing second, beaten a neck by Pounce, in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride on March 2. She capped off a strong series of races here last winter that included a game neck victory in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant and a second-place finish in the Ginger Brew.
Waskesiu has not run since winning the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on March 9, a super key race that produced five next-out winners, including Dynamic Pricing, who captured the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs eight weeks later.
The lack of any serious pace in the Tropical Park Oaks should prove an advantage for In Our Time, who came from just off the pace to register a 3 1/2-length victory over Vive Vueve and De Regreso in the 1 1/16-mile Cellars Shiraz here on Nov. 1, earning a career-best 88 Beyer. In Our Time will break from the extreme outside, in post 12, barring any late scratches, but appears quick enough to control the early running with a clean beginning.
Vive Vueve and De Regreso return in an Oaks lineup that includes the stakes-placed duo of Belle of Rights and Pendulum along with the lightly raced but undefeated Random Harvest.
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