Gemonteer needs firm turf in Bear's Den

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jena Antonucci said she knew she was facing an uphill battle with her stakes-winning 3-year-old Gemonteer moments after the gates opened for the Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes over a yielding turf course last month at Saratoga.

“When he came out of the gate and went down instead of forward in those first few strides, I knew we were in trouble with the very, very soft turf,” said Antonucci, looking back at Gemonteer’s ninth-place finish against a graded stakes-caliber lineup in the Hall of Fame.

As a result, Antonucci will be watching the weather closely as post time approaches for Gemonteer’s next start, Saturday’s $100,000 Bear’s Den Stakes at Gulfstream Park, where he figures to be a heavy favorite if the turf is firm. Twelve 3-year-olds, includes one also-eligible and one main track-only, were entered for the 7 ½-furlong Bear’s Den, the 11th event on a 12-race card.

Gemonteer, a lightly raced son of Distorted Humor, earned a trip to Saratoga for the Hall of Fame after registering 4 3/4-length triumph going one mile in the Not Surprising Stakes here on July 7. The win was the second in the first three starts for the promising Gemonteer, who earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

“You always have to consider the possibility he won’t handle soft turf like he encountered at Saratoga,” said Antonucci, who trains Gemonteer for Gelfenstein Farm LLC. “But with such a lightly raced horse, you’re going to always have questions to answer along the way, and if you’re going to do it, you have to do it boldly. We needed to find out how he’d handle that type of turf, and now we know.”

In Gemonteer’s defense, the competition he faced at Saratoga was a far cry from the field he’ll meet in the Bear’s Den. Raging Bull, who won the Hall of Fame, came back to capture the Grade 3 Saranac in his next start, while third-place finisher Ride a Comet shipped cross-country to upset the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby four weeks later.

“We gave him a chance to catch his breath a little after the trip with an easy work, and then he was very sharp but well within himself in his final prep for this race, which is what we were expecting to see,” said Antonucci. “Although he’s drawn on the outside, I don’t think post really matters because of his tactical speed. He’s doing great so I’m going into the weekend with a positive mindset and not worrying about the weather.”

Trainer David Fawkes will try strength in numbers to combat Gemonteer, entering three horses – Renaisance Frolic, Noble Drama, and recent acquisition Big Possible.

Noble Drama, a restricted stakes winner around two turns on dirt last winter at Tampa Bay Downs, will make his turf debut if he goes on Saturday. Renaisance Frolic, a stakes winner on dirt at 2, finished third behind Flameaway in the Kitten’s Joy on turf here last winter but has been idle for nearly four months.

First Spring demands respect, not only because he has won two of his last three starts, all for trainer Mark Casse, but also off his second-place finish behind Raging Bull in a hot maiden race at Keeneland on April 19. First Spring, a Live Oak Plantation homebred, defeated older horses in his local debut on Aug. 10.