Golden Bandit eyeing turf stakes in Kentucky

Golden Bandit is a turf horse on the rise, and he’s now under consideration for a pair of upcoming stakes in Kentucky following a sharp win in the $100,000 Canterbury Derby earlier this month at Canterbury Park.

Trainer Coty Rosin said Tuesday that the $200,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby on Aug. 5 at Ellis Park is tentative target for Golden Bandit, with a longer-range goal the $750,000 Gun Runner for 3-year-olds at a mile on Sept. 2 at Kentucky Downs.

Golden Bandit is unbeaten on the grass. He won his maiden on the surface June 7 at Canterbury and came back to capture the Canterbury Derby in his first start against winners June 21. For each effort, Golden Bandit earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 88.

“Hopefully, he keeps getting better,” Rosin said. “I definitely think the turf has moved him up a little bit. I think he’s just racehorse. I would say the grass has moved him up a touch. We’ll try to keep him on it, especially with his 3-year-old races. It’s good timing, six weeks going into the Dueling Grounds, a month into the Gun Runner.”

Rosin has started some horses in the past at Kentucky Downs and believes the track’s unique configuration might well suit Golden Bandit.

“His constitution . . . I think he’ll like that track,” he said. “He kind of strikes me that he would really like that one-turn mile and that he could handle the change in elevation. It’s obviously the biggest X-factor, unless those horses have run on it last year as 2-year-olds. If you get one that likes it, you could maybe beat a better horse. We’ll see what happens.”

Golden Bandit defeated a four-time stakes winner in the Canterbury Derby in One in Vermillion. One in Vermillion had had stakes success at Santa Anita ahead of the race at Canterbury. One in Vermillion set the pace in the Canterbury Derby, which was run at a mile, before being overtaken by a tracking Golden Bandit. The winner covered the distance in a sharp 1:34.41.

“I thought he ran great,” Rosin said. “I kind of know that One in Vermillion – watched him work on the turf and thought [we] were in for a pretty steep challenge. [Our] horse was doing very well – home track, short field, we just took a shot. I don’t really like to dodge one horse. Things can happen.”

Golden Bandit is a son of Midnight Lute who races for Barry and Joni Butzow.

Rosin has 30 horses in training at Canterbury and another 10 at Hawthorne. Later this year, he’ll head to Oaklawn.

“We’ve got some babies and they’re getting close,” Rosin said. “We’ve got a couple that we really like, so hopefully, they’ll make some noise the next couple of months.”

* Calibrate, runner-up in the Grade 2 Brooklyn at Belmont Park, is penciled in for the $150,000 Birdstone on July 27 at Saratoga, Rosin said. Rosin won the Temperence Hill with the horse in April at Oaklawn and later arranged for him to be sent to trainer Jamie Ness for marathon opportunities in New York as there are currently limited summer options for the division in the Midwest. Rosin said Calibrate is in training at Parx Racing.