Gas Me Up should get pace to chase on cutback in Nearctic
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With some pace to chase, Gas Me Up cuts back to the suitable distance of six furlongs in the Grade 2 Nearctic on Sunday’s Canadian International undercard.
Following a successful winter stint at Santa Anita, Gas Me Up returned to trainer Kevin Attard’s barn in the spring. He captured the Grade 2 King Edward for the second year in a row off a layoff Aug. 15. That one-mile event is the local prep for the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, in which Gas Me Up finished third for the second straight year Sept. 12.
Gas Me Up is unbeaten in two sprint starts on Woodbine’s roomy main course. He also took the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez over the hillside course at Santa Anita in late December.
“To me, he’s a one-turn horse,” Attard said. “In the Woodbine Mile, there wasn’t a whole lot of pace and he was keen early. He got a good trip. He was just third best.
“I’m looking forward to shortening him up. There’s the opportunity for the speed to run away and have him come with his good run. He runs his best races when he settles early and comes running. He’s happy. He looks great. He came out of the Mile in good order. I think this race makes a lot of sense.”
Trainer Mark Casse entered Essex Serpent and Victory Achieved in the $250,000 event, which also lured Western Whirl.
Essex Serpent ran a corker in his first turf try when exiting another layoff Sept. 13. He went straight to the front in the six-furlong conditioned allowance and then drew off in the stretch to win by 6 1/4 lengths with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Victory Achieved possesses tactical speed. He has a win and three runner-up placings from four starts this year at four different tracks. He finished a close second in each of his two most recent races in turf stakes at Colonial and Laurel.
Western Whirl also has speed. He finished a lapped-on third after dueling up front in last year’s Nearctic. This year, the massive 5-year-old finished third in the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier and second in the Grade 3 Bold Venture, a pair of Tapeta sprints that sandwiched a second in the Grade 2 Highlander going five furlongs on the inner turf.
Trainer Stuart Simon is looking forward to racing the Chiefswood Stables homebred on Woodbine’s main course.
“He can run on the synthetic and on the inner turf, but I really think he will be better on the outer turf,” Simon said. “Even though he raced well and tolerated the inner turf, I just believe he is too big to handle those tighter turns. I think the outside turf and those sweeping turns will just be better for him, considering how big he is.”
Nobals, a three-time stakes winner over Woodbine’s Tapeta, edged out Western Whirl for second while beaten just a neck in last year’s Nearctic. The Turfway-based 7-year-old is winless in three starts this year for trainer Larry Rivelli.
Completing the field are shippers Isivunguvungu and Works for Me.
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