Glengarry has tactical options in stakes-caliber allowance

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Glengarry is about as fast as the early Valentine’s Day gift trainer Doug Anderson bought for his wife Cathy and the horse’s speed should serve him well in Friday’s featured ninth race at Oaklawn Park.

“We had one of our own horses win a couple of weeks ago,” Anderson said. “Cathy needed a new vehicle so we just went ahead and got one.”

Glengarry could either show the way or track Ryvit, his primary pace rival who is drawn to his immediate inside in the conditioned allowance for 4-year-olds and up.

“He’s quick, he just puts himself there all the time,” Anderson said of Glengarry. “But if they want to go, we can sit right off of them and hopefully run them down.”

Glengarry is one of five stakes winners in the six-horse feature, which will be run over six furlongs. Others set to start include Grade 3 winner Durante, comebacking stakes winner Sir Wellington, Gulfstream Park stakes winner Run Classic, and the stakes-placed Chasing Time.

Glengarry exits a runner-up finish in a Dec. 27 allowance at Oaklawn. Glengarry set a pressured pace over the muddy track before finishing two lengths behind Iowa Derby winner Henro.

“He ran good,” Anderson said. “He had an off racetrack. When he goes to the front he kind of gets shoved down towards the inside and at that time, the inside part of the racetrack was a little bit deeper. But he still fought and we were proud of him.”

Glengarry worked a bullet half-mile in 48.20 seconds Jan. 27 in his final prep for Friday. Francisco Arrieta has the mount from post 3.

“If somebody wants to go we can let them go, because I don’t think this horse has to be on the front end,” Anderson said. “He’ll be up there close, but I don’t think he has to be out there, a need the lead type horse.

“The other day when we worked him, he caught company and he sat in behind them, a couple lengths behind, and the last sixteenth of a mile . . . he went on around them real easy, so I think we can be pretty versatile.”

Anderson co-owns Glengarry with Aaron Kennedy and Toby Joseph.

Ryvit and Run Classic exit the same key race, a Dec. 20 allowance won by Banishing with a Beyer Speed Figure of 103. Following the start, Banishing came back to win an overnight stakes at Oaklawn with a Beyer of 100. Other next out winners from the Dec. 20 race were runner-up Tejano Twist, who took the King Cotton at Oaklawn; fifth-place finisher Kavod, who captured the Duncan Kenner at Fair Grounds; and sixth-place Bourbon Heist, who won a $50,000 claiming race at Oaklawn.

Run Classic was third in the allowance, while Ryvit finished eighth in his first start since June.

Ryvit, who leads Friday’s field in earnings with $827,919, will break from post 2 and is a Grade 3 winner over the local surface.

Run Classic can take advantage if the pace is quick Friday, while the same can be said for Chasing Time, Durante, and Sir Wellington.

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