Hunt Master gets an easier spot for his return

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Hunt Master scratched out of Saturday’s Grade 2 Highlander at Woodbine in favor of Sunday’s featured conditioned allowance with a $50,000 claiming option, probably a wise move.

Hunt Master, who was 20-1 on the morning line in the Highlander, has a much better chance going six furlongs on the main turf Sunday, his first outing since November.

After participating in the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown, Hunt Master found his calling as a sprinter/miler on turf when narrowly beaten in the restricted Lake Superior Stakes.

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Last year, Hunt Master won 2 of 9 starts and nearly $150,000. The 5-year-old beat Ontario-sired allowance stock on the inner turf in September and won the first open allowance condition on the main turf in October, earning an 85 Beyer Speed Figure on both occasions.

Jeffrey Alderson will get a leg up from trainer Angus Buntain on Hunt Master, who posted some fast Tapeta works during the spring. On June 15, he zipped five furlongs in 59.20, the fastest of 30 works at the distance.

Olympic Runner is the obvious class of the eight-horse field, in which Poulin in O T is entered for the main track only.

A stretch-runner trained by Mark Casse, Olympic Runner captured the Grade 2 King Edward in 2021 while beating Town Cruise, who won the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile in his next start. The 8-year-old has gone winless in six races since taking a conditioned allowance with a $100,000 claiming option in August at Colonial Downs.

Olympic Runner wasn’t a factor in his two most recent excursions, here and at Keeneland, and will get Kazushi Kimura aboard. Kimura rode him in four consecutive races in 2020, which included two stakes-placings behind the mighty Pink Lloyd.

There’s No Joe figures to set the pace, with Boston Tea Party and Reload’s Rascal not far behind.

There’s No Joe had a fruitful summer in 2023, the highlight of which was a victory at this level going seven furlongs with a 90 Beyer. He tailed off in the fall and got the winter off before up coming up empty in his season opener in a tougher conditioned allowance on June 1.

Boston Tea Party has filled out the exacta in two of his last three races at this level, including a narrow loss over seven furlongs on the main turf in October. He ran second behind Last American Exit when exiting a seven-month layoff in a 5 1/2-furlong Tapeta dash June 9.

Reload’s Rascal capped his 2023 campaign with a game score in December at the first allowance class on the Tapeta, for which he got a 91 Beyer. The son of Reload is experimenting on the grass in his season opener without much turf breeding.

Blast in the Snow earned a 78 Beyer when landing his May 26 comeback in an allowance sprint on the main turf. Trainer Catherine Day Phillips has a 21 percent strike rate with runners exiting a win.

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