Hoist the Gold seeking form of old as he begins comeback
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During the fall of 2023, Hoist the Gold won the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland at odds of 6-1 and the Grade 2 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct as an 8-1 shot. He’ll be a tiny fraction of those prices Thursday at Fair Grounds, where Hoist the Gold makes his first start since June 29.
Hoist the Gold is one of seven older horses entered in Thursday’s seventh race, a six-furlong dirt sprint with an $80,000 claiming option and three allowance conditions. The one that opens the race to horses who haven’t won in the last six months is the one that fits Hoist the Gold, a five-time winner with earnings of more than $1.4 million.
Trained by Dallas Stewart for the Dream Team One Racing Stable, Hoist the Gold holds a serious class edge over his six rivals. The morning line lists him as a 6-5 shot, but the way bettors have treated heavy favorites during this meet, pounding them furiously, Hoist the Gold figures to go off closer to 3-5.
Those inclined to back the short price might take heart in the remarkable strike rate favorites have produced this meet, 43 percent, the highest number at Fair Grounds at least since the turn of the millennium, perhaps ever.
Hoist the Gold has been favored four times in his 31-start career, winning two of those races, but assuming the 6-year-old horse immediately pops back into his best form seems imprudent.
After riding an inside-speed bias to a dominant win and a flashy 109 Beyer Speed Figure in his 2023 Cigar Mile, Hoist the Gold tried to stretch his speed over 1 1/8 miles, setting the pace and fading to fourth in the Pegasus World Cup. One month later, the horse showed up in the Saudi Cup, where he brought up the rear in a 14-runner field. None of the three starts Hoist the Gold made after that last year came close to his peak performance level.
Stewart has put nine timed workouts dating to Nov. 25 into Hoist the Gold, who does not have to deliver anything close to his best to beat this group. The one horse who might have a shot at him even if Hoist the Gold returns with a representative showing is Uncashed.
Uncashed races for the $80,000 claiming price, and while Hoist the Gold has speed to lead in longer one-turn races, Uncashed should beat him to the front from post 1 under Jareth Loveberry.
Uncashed exits a resounding defeat Jan. 18 in an off-turf renewal of the Duncan Kenner Stakes, but circumstances worked against Uncashed that day. Racing along the fence, Uncashed hooked up with Bear River in a wicked speed duel that left both horses reeling in midstretch.
Moreover, the inside part of a sloppy, sealed track appeared to be the worst part of the racing surface on Jan. 18, and maybe, just maybe, Uncashed gets the best of the odds-on favorite Thursday.
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