Hit Show will train at Fair Grounds for next start

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hit Show, the Grade 3 Withers winner, hit the road Wednesday and will do his training at Fair Grounds for his next start, which is still likely to occur in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 8 at Aqueduct.

Dustin Dugas, the Belmont Park-based assistant to trainer Brad Cox, said owner Gary West expressed a preference not to stay in New York for the next two months and train over the deep Belmont training track.

Hit Show was stabled at Oaklawn Park before shipping to New York for the Withers, which he won by 5 1/2 lengths.

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Also, being based at Fair Grounds will allow Cox to oversee the colt’s training. And while the Wood remains the likely next spot, being at Fair Grounds also could open up other options, including the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 25 or the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby on April 1 at Gulfstream.

Dugas said Everso Mischievous, beaten a head in a maiden race here on Saturday, also shipped out Wednesday, but he went to Oaklawn Park. There is a two-turn, one-mile maiden race on March 11 at Oaklawn that comes up earlier than the next one-turn mile maiden race for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct on March 25.

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