General Jim runs down Super Chow to win Swale
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Shug McGaughey resisted the temptation to run his 3-year-old prospect General Jim in Saturday’s main event at Gulfstream Park, the $250,000 Holy Bull, opting instead to take the more conservative route, which was the seven-furlong Swale. That decision paid big dividends after General Jim readily ran down the 4-5 Super Chow to register a one-length decision for his first stakes victory in six career starts.
McGaughey certainly would have been justified entering General Jim in the Grade 3 Holy Bull after he kicked off his 3-year-old season finishing a troubled fourth in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man on New Year’s Day. He appeared to have dead aim on the leader in that race before being trapped in tight quarters along the rail and jostled about while lacking room for much of the final furlong. Despite the eventful trip, General Jim was defeated only a length and one-half by Legacy Isle, who was among the leading contenders in the Holy Bull.
As expected General Jim, with regular rider Luis Saez aboard, sat several lengths off the early pace of Super Chow turning back to seven panels off a series of longer races coming into the Swale. General Jim advanced to closer contention leaving the backstretch, was forced a bit wide by the pacesetting favorite into the stretch, and overtook him nearing midstretch to win going away.
:: Get ready for Gulfstream Park racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.
Super Chow controlled the pace, bore out as he’s done on several occasions in the past turning for home, dug in gamely but proved no match for the winner while finishing 11 lengths in front of the tiring Two of a Kind, who outlasted the others to be third.
General Jim, a son of Into Mischief, is owned by Courtlandt Farms. He completed the distance over a fast track in 1:23.34 and paid $5.20, getting a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Luis said he had plenty of horse left,” said McGaughey. “It was between this and the Holy Bull. The owner left it up to me and I just wanted to back him up and see if he could do what he did today. His mother was a sprinter, even though she’s by Curlin, and we know the Into Mischiefs can do about anything. He’s run a couple of disappointing races, but in the long run they were learning experiences and today I think we took another step in that direction.”
McGaughey said the Grade 2, one-mile and one-sixteenth Fountain of Youth on March 4 was “not out of the question” for General Jim’s next start.
Forward Gal Stakes
Red Carpet Ready remained undefeated by impressively rallying to a 2 ¼-length decision over Undervalued Asset in the $125,000 Forward Gal for 3-year-old fillies, giving Saez a sweep of the two 3-year-old sprint stakes on the card.
Red Carpet Ready won her career debut by 10 lengths at odds of 36-1 and the Fern Creek Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths in her two previous starts, with both races coming at Churchill Downs. She was stretching to seven furlongs for the first time in the Forward Gal, a race worth 40 qualifying points, 20 to the winner, for the Kentucky Oaks.
Red Carpet Ready bobbled briefly after the start but quickly recovered to race well placed just off the early leaders. She readily overtook Twice as Sweet to take control approaching the stretch, repulsed a bid from Undervalued Asset at the top of the lane, and was not menaced thereafter.
Undervalued Asset, a runaway maiden winner at Aqueduct in her only previous start, advanced wide on the final turn to move within easy striking distance of the winner but proved no match through the final three-sixteenths of a mile. Atomically was pinched back to last at the start, moved within close contention outside horses after five furlongs, but could not sustain the bid, finishing another length farther back in third as the 2.20-1 favorite.
Red Carpet Ready paid $6.60 after covering seven panels in 1:23.54 and getting an 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She’s answered the call every time. She’s pretty special,” said Rusty Arnold, who trains Red Carpet Ready for Ashbrook Farm and Upland Flats Racing. “Luis said she tried to break so sharp she lost her footing at the start, but after recovering she did everything right.
When asked if he thought Red Carpet Ready would handle more distance, Arnold said, “I’ll be shocked if she didn’t go long,” while mentioning the Davona Dale here on March 4 as a strong possibility for her next start.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.