Hawthorne: The Pizza Man primed for a big performance in Buck’s Boy

Last fall, The Pizza Man completed his 3-year-old campaign with a three-race winning streak, capped by a 2 1/4-length score in the Buck’s Boy Handicap. A year later, The Pizza Man is in prime position to repeat the pattern.

Three weeks after defeating open company as the 3-2 choice in the Carey Memorial Handicap, The Pizza Man will seek to win his third straight race this fall as the defending race winner in the $100,000 Buck’s Boy Handicap for Illinois-breds at Hawthorne.

To get the job done in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, The Pizza Man will have to overcome the outside post in a field of 10 with a new rider on his back, Rafael Hernandez. Neither Franciso Torres, who was aboard for The Pizza Man’s win in the Carey Memorial, nor James Graham, who was up in the 4-year-old gelding’s neck win in the Illinois Owners two starts ago, is riding at Hawthorne on Saturday.

The Pizza Man owns a 3-for-3 record on Hawthorne’s grass course and makes the third start of his current form cycle, which often produces a peak performance.

Tazz, narrowly beaten by The Pizza Man three weeks ago after setting all the pace, and Coalport, a dominant winner each of the last two times he faced statebreds, are the prime challengers.

The 7-year-old Tazz owns a fine 11-for-42 record, but has just one win in nine starts on Hawthorne’s turf. His trainer, Christine Janks, is mired in an 0-for-29 slump in statebred stakes over the past two seasons. Tazz was no match for The Pizza Man in last year’s Buck’s Boy, finishing sixth.

Coalport fits much better with this group of horses after being ambitiously spotted in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland nearly a month ago. His 6-for-14 record on turf includes the Franklin-Simpson Mile at Kentucky Downs in September and a 2 3/4-length score in the Black Tie Affair at Arlington in June. The latter race is significant because he beat The Pizza Man.

Sweet Luca takes another crack at The Pizza Man after rallying to finish 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner in the Illinois Owners. That was just the second start on grass and the second race beyond 6 1/2 furlongs for Sweet Luca since August 2012. A slight move forward in his second start following a layoff would make Sweet Luca dangerous.