Gulfstream Park: Havana readies for 2014 debut in Swale Stakes

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Havana, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita in November, completed his major preparation for his 3-year-old debut Sunday by breezing an easy five furlongs in 1:00.90 at Palm Meadows. Havana will return to the races in the Grade 3, $150,000 Swale Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

Havana, a son of Dunkirk, showed good energy on the gallop-out Sunday.

“He’s an impressive horse to watch train,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We got a little behind schedule, but he seems to have handled it all really well, and hopefully we’ve done enough to have him tight to run off a little bit of a freshening.”

Pletcher also has Gala Award for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Palm Beach Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf. The son of Bernardini enters the race off a maiden win Jan. 20 in which he defeated 11 foes.

Pletcher said Gala Award earned a shot in the stakes race with his performance on the track and his steady progress in training.

“Both of his races have been good,” Pletcher said. “The second one was a step forward, and it seems likes he’s training well, and so it’s maybe a bit of a jump in his third start, but we like what we’ve been seeing.”

Trainer Chad Brown plans to run the French-bred Pleuven and Storming Inti in the Palm Beach Stakes.

Pleuven, a son of the Irish-bred Turtle Bowl out of the Singspiel mare Under Estimated, will be making his second start in the United States, following a third-place finish behind Mr Speaker and Cabo Cat in the Grade 3 Dania Beach Stakes on Dec. 21. He turned in his final workout for the race Sunday, an easy half-mile in company with Storming Inti on dirt in 50.50 seconds.

[Swale Stakes: Get PPs, watch Saturday's card live]

Brown said he likes the way Pleuven has been training, especially on turf, and decided to give him a couple of easy breezes on dirt during the last two weeks. Brown said “he was a little tardy early” in his North American debut but “came with some decent run and finished well.”

Storming Inti, a son of Stormy Atlantic, will be making his second start of 2014 for Santa Rosa Racing Stables. The colt has breezed primarily on dirt since his wire-to-wire score in the Kitten’s Joy Stakes on Jan. 19.

“He’s been training terrific,” Brown said. “He clearly has a tactical advantage, especially at Gulfstream.”

Pletcher will be represented by two fillies Sunday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Herecomesthebride Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.

Candy Kitty, a daughter of Lemon Drop Kid, will aim for her third consecutive stakes score, while Seeking Her Glory makes her first start against winners after taking a maiden special weight race on grass Feb. 9.

[Clocker Reports: Get Mike Welsch’s clocker reports from Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows]

“Seeking Her Glory had a breakthrough race last time, and she seemed to relish the mile and an eighth,” Pletcher said of the Giant’s Causeway filly. “There aren’t that many mile-and-an-eighth opportunities at the moment, so we’re going to try her back.”

When asked how the pair was coming into the race, Pletcher said he liked how they were training and was happy with both of them.