Grande Shores brings consistency into Blue Heron Handicap
It is hard not to like a horse like Grande Shores, who is coming off a short break in the $60,000 Blue Heron Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Thursday. After all, the last time he finished worse than second was 14 starts ago in the Sunshine Millions Sprint on Jan. 18, 2014. He likely will be favored in the seven-furlong sprint that drew seven horses and goes as the seventh race.
Trained by Stanley Gold, Grande Shores is coming off a huge effort in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper on Feb. 7, and the 105 Beyer Speed Figure he received for finishing second by a neck behind the Grade 2 winner Valid is the best in his 42-race career. Finishing another neck back in the one-mile race was Race Day, who returned to win his next two starts at Oaklawn Park, earning a 106 Beyer in the Grade 3 Razorback and a 110 in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap.
Following his strong performance in the Hooper, Gold was pointing Grande Shores to the $100,000 Sir Shackleton on March 28, but the horse came down with a bout of colic. He recovered quickly, though, and he may have tipped his hand when he worked a bullet five furlongs in 59.80 seconds April 9.
The 7-year-old Jacks or Better Farm homebred is versatile, and considering that he is relatively fresh, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in the race early after breaking from post 3 with Edgard Zayas aboard.
KEY CONTENDERS
Grande Shores (Last 3 Beyers: 105-97-95)
◗ The classy son of Black Mambo shows up every time, and after losing by a neck going one mile in the Fred Hooper, he won’t mind the move back to a distance at which he has compiled a solid 4-3-1 record from 10 starts.
Brothersofthetime (Last 3 Beyers: 99-97-91)
◗ He is one of two in this race trained by Jorge Navarro, who is winning races at the current meet at a 27 percent clip.
◗ Brothersofthetime wasn’t a threat in the Fred Hooper but earned a career-best 99 Beyer for his third-place finish in the Sir Shackleton and could move forward in his second start back.
◗ Not surprisingly, Zayas sticks with Grande Shores, but nobody will complain with Eddie Castro accepting the call.
Songa (Last 3 Beyers: 86-84-95)
◗ He seems a cut below the top two, but he has decent speed and could be the one they have to run down in his first start for trainer Robert Dibona.