Gulfstream Park: Hy Kodiak Warrior among sophomores getting early test Friday

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Several promising 3-year-old prospects who skipped Wednesday’s Gulfstream Park Derby will clash in Friday’s $48,750 allowance feature at 1 1/8 miles, a group that includes Hy Kodiak Warrior and the undefeated Top Billing, along with Cousin Stephen and Commissioner, both of whom already have won at nine furlongs.

Hy Kodiak Warrior will try two turns for the first time on Friday and is coming off a game second-place finish behind the unbeaten Coup de Grace going a mile under allowance conditions here on Dec. 15. Hy Kodiak Warrior got to the wire first in a similarly conditioned allowance race during the fall, only to be disqualified and placed second for impeding a rival near the wire.

Top Billing could give trainer Shug McGaughey a third Kentucky Derby prospect to go along with Honor Code and Mr. Speaker if he runs well Friday. Top Billing, a son of Curlin out of the multiple graded stakes winner Parade Queen, overcame trouble and rallied from far back to win his debut impressively by five widening lengths going six furlongs last month at Laurel.

“It will be interesting to see how he performs in this race,” McGaughey said. “I’m not sure what was in there, but he ran very impressively at Laurel. I’d liked to have gotten a race at a mile, but I don’t think a mile and one-eighth will be a problem. I know he’ll get the distance, I just don’t know if he’ll do it fast enough.”

Cousin Stephen, with blinkers added, rallied from close up to record a 7 1/2-length maiden victory at Aqueduct on Nov. 7 and has been training forwardly for his 3-year-old debut at Palm Meadows for trainer Chad Brown.

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

Commissioner has been idle since earning his diploma with a hard-fought head decision going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 28. Commissioner is a WinStar Farm homebred by A.P. Indy out of the two-time stakes-winning mare Flaming Heart and is trained by Todd Pletcher.

Pletcher looks for big Saturday

Pletcher, fresh off a holiday with his family, will really get back into the swing of things here this weekend, having entered five horses in the three stakes races on Saturday’s card.

Pletcher, who has won 10 straight Gulfstream Park training titles, entered Grade 2 winner Corfu and the undefeated Trail Blaze in the $100,000 Spectacular Bid, the Grade 2-placed Sweet Whiskey and the stakes-placed Co Cola in the Grade 3 Old Hat, and the promising Brazilian-bred Viva Rafaela in the Grade 3 Marshua’s River.

Eight 3-year-olds were entered in the Spectacular Bid, and along with the Pletcher pair, the group includes Just Call Kenny, C. Zee, Cool Cowboy, Giancarlo, Hollywood Talent, and Elusive Blueboy.

Trainer Ralph Nicks said Elusive Blueboy, who has won two of three starts, including Calder’s Excellent Luck Stakes in his 2-year-old finale, will get a class check Saturday.

“He had a little throat surgery done after his first race and has run well in his next two starts,” Nicks said. “Now we’ll find out if he’s fast enough to make the next step forward.”

The Old Hat lured only six newly turned 3-year-old fillies, with Zensational Bunny, Aurelia’s Belle, Milam, and Side Street set to challenge the Pletcher duo.

As is the case in most turf stakes here each winter, a full field will go in the 1 1/16-mile Marshua’s River, topped by the improving Abaco, who returns to south Florida after a come-from-behind victory in Churchill Downs’s Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap in her 2013 finale.

Honor Code skipping Holy Bull

McGaughey said he was pleased with Honor Code’s easy three-furlong work at Payson Park on Tuesday, his first breeze since arriving in south Florida last month. McGaughey said that at the moment, the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes on Feb. 25 is not an option for Honor Code.

Pletcher said Wednesday that Havana, who has not started since his second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is back training at Palm Meadows but, like Honor Code, would not be ready in time to make the Holy Bull.

“He’s just returned to light training right now; he definitely won’t make the Holy Bull,” Pletcher said. “Right now, I kind of have the Fountain of Youth circled as his first target. We just gave him some time. He’s really filled out. I think the horse looks great but just felt like it would be rushing things a little bit for the Holy Bull.”

◗ Elvis Trujillo, who has not ridden since fracturing his collarbone in a spill here in mid-October, will return to the saddle aboard Prickly Pear for trainer Jane Cibelli in Friday’s opener.