General a Rod revving up for return

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – General a Rod was one of the stars of the 2013-14 Gulfstream Park championship meeting, and he will be back again this winter, trainer Mike Maker said Thursday.

General a Rod outgamed Wildcat Red to win the Gulfstream Park Derby this year in his 3-year-old debut, dropped a head decision to that same rival following a race-long pace duel in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, and finished third in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. General a Rod was one of only two horses to compete in all three legs of the 2014 Triple Crown, finishing 11th in the Kentucky Derby, fourth in the Preakness, and seventh in the Belmont Stakes.

General a Rod, who also was the center of some controversy prior to the Belmont due to his late arrival at the assembly barn, was given the remainder of his 3-year-old season off after the Belmont.

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Maker said General a Rod is scheduled to have his first work back at the Trackside training center in Kentucky and then ship to Gulfstream.

Maker has 40 horses bedded down at Gulfstream and said he is “still working” on putting together a second string of 40 runners whom he’ll send to Palm Meadows following the conclusion of the Churchill Downs meet. Along with General a Rod, Maker’s Florida contingent will include Thank You Marylou, who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and Grade 3 winner International Star, the ninth-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.