Haskell winner Baby Vino likely to make return at Oaklawn
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Lindsay Schultz said Wednesday that Baby Vino, the longshot winner of the Grade 1 Haskell in July, is on track to return to training in December and will return for his 4-year-old campaign. The colt has an outside chance of traveling to Dubai in March, though it is far more likely he returns in stakes company at Oaklawn Park.
“We gave him a couple months off at the farm, and he will come back to the track, probably beginning of December,” Schultz said. “We’ll try to get a race in and we could be targeting a race in Dubai with him, but probably something stateside.”
Baby Vino has not worked since finishing seventh in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga, where his improbable three-race winning streak came to an end behind Leading Change. Coming off a maiden victory at Oaklawn in May, he won the $125,000 Pegasus at Monmouth Park before scoring at 28-1 over Napoleon Solo in the Haskell. Though he had earned an automatic spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he was never seriously considered for that chance against older rivals.
Schultz, who shifts her operation between Arkansas and New Jersey every year, said her primary target for the colt is the $140,000 American Pharoah Overnight at Oaklawn on Feb. 20. It is unclear if he could be ready for another start beforehand, but the timing in late February is right and could serve as a stepping-stone.
“Ideally, he’s going to be better than a listed race,” Schultz said.
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