Gulfstream Park: Csaba using Quality Road as a homecoming

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With a somewhat disappointing summer at Saratoga now behind him, Csaba will attempt to return to his winning ways now that he has settled back home when he goes postward in Saturday’s $100,000 Quality Road at Gulfstream Park.

Csaba rose to the top of the local handicap division after posting five stakes victories in six starts from October 2012 through May 2013, including a pair of Grade 3 tallies topped by a game decision over Pool Play and Pants On Fire in the Hal’s Hope here on Jan. 12. Csaba’s only loss during that period came in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap where he finished fifth behind winner Cross Traffic.

Csaba, who is trained by Phil Gleaves for owners Bruce Hollander and Cary Shapoff, ran afoul of Cross Traffic again this summer in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Whitney Handicap, finishing seventh in a loaded field that included recent Grade 1 winners Mucho Macho Man and Ron the Greek. Csaba made one more start at the Spa, finishing fifth and last in the overnight Alydar Stakes before returning to south Florida.

“We went up to Saratoga with the intention of running in an overnight stakes the day before the Whitney,” Gleaves said. “When that race didn’t fill, we decided to take a shot in the Whitney, hoping to get a piece, but we didn’t. After that, we regrouped and waited for the Alydar, and I have no real excuse for his disappointing performance that day.”

Gleaves said Csaba has done well since returning home and is looking for him to rebound in a big way in the 1 1/16-mile Quality Road.

“He’s given me every indication he’s back on his game and we know he loves this track, so I see no reason why he shouldn’t run well on Saturday,” Gleaves said. “We’ll just play the trip by ear, but from the 2 hole we don’t want to give up position. I think he’s better when closer to the pace, so we certainly won’t be taking him back.”

Csaba will carry high weight of 123 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Quality Road, conceding from two to seven pounds to his six rivals, led by Where’s Sterling and Sr. Quisqueyano.

Where’s Sterling finished a neck back in second behind Sr. Quisqueyano after dropping off a relatively slow pace and racing very wide into the stretch in the Eight Miles East Stakes here on Aug. 24. But he rebounded quickly when dominating allowance company at Calder two weeks later. Where’s Sterling, who finished a troubled fourth in the Grade 1 Donn in 2012, has won two of his three starts since being turned over to trainer Kirk Ziadie earlier this season.

Sr. Quisqueyano, one of only two 3-year-olds in the Quality Road field along with Joshua’s Comprise, was unable to duplicate his Eight Miles East performance three weeks later in the Montbrook, finishing a tiring fourth after contesting a fast early pace.

Completing the field are Isutalkintome, a distant third in the Eight Miles East, No Lift Shift, and Colizeo.