Harlan Punch back on short rest in Stymie Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer David Jacobson is never bashful about wheeling horses back on short rest, and he will run Harlan Punch in Saturday’s $150,000 Stymie six days after he won a high-caliber allowance race here Sunday.

“I needed a good race out of him the other day, and we got it,” said Jacobson, noting that the 100 Beyer Speed Figure was a career-best for Harlan Punch, a 5-year-old gelding by Harlan’s Holiday. “It didn’t take anything out of him.”

The allowance and the Stymie are the same one-mile distance.

Jacobson claimed Harlan Punch last Aug. 27 at Saratoga for $40,000. He wheeled him back in 13 days, and the horse won a starter allowance. Seven days after that, Harlan Punch won a first-level allowance race.

“He doesn’t like to train,” Jacobson said. “He’s the kind of horse I got to keep him going.”

Dylan Davis has the return call on Harlan Punch.

The Stymie is named after the Hall of Fame Thoroughbred who won 35 races from 131 starts. He was trained by Hirsch Jacobs, Jacobson’s uncle.

“I’d really like to win that race,” Jacobson said.

Others entered in the Stymie were Backsideofthemoon, Fellowship, Hit It Once More, Securitiz, Vulcan’s Forge, and Watershed.