Hurricane Irma interrupts Turf Sprint preparation for Pay Any Price

By the time the Breeders’ Cup comes around, it’s hard to find a horse running at 100 percent.

The wear and tear of a long campaign rarely comes without some time off for a nagging issue or to freshen up from a long trip or dull effort. Missing time due to a hurricane, though, is one box most Breeders’ Cup contenders aren’t able to check.

Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint contender Pay Any Price rode out Hurricane Irma in the barn of trainer Ralph Ziadie at Gulfstream Park West, the former Calder Race Course, in South Florida.

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The 7-year-old Wildcat Heir gelding made it through unscathed, but missed about a week of training and a planned prep in the Tamiami Stakes last Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

“Mr. Ziadie has been through several hurricanes down there at Calder, and typically, that’s been the safest place,” co-owner Rich Averill said. “They have old concrete buildings. The roofs are concrete, the walls are concrete, they don’t get flooding because they’re on higher land, so they’ve always stayed. This was a little bit different.”

While the storm itself made training unsafe for several days, Averill said the true drag on getting back to the track was the aftermath, when power in the area was slow to return, and intermittent when it did.

The oppressive heat, paired with an inability to power fans or make ice made the horses too uncomfortable to train. Dwindling fuel resources and difficulty accessing services like the farrier also were exasperating factors.

Averill, who owns Pay Any Price in partnership with Matties Racing Stable, said the Breeders’ Cup remains the long-term goal, but it will take some catching up.

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“He’s missed at least a week of training, so there’s going to be at least another week for him to get back into form,” he said. “A horse like that, as special as he is, you want everything to be right.”

A possible option, Averill said, was to find a local starter allowance to dial him in before shipping to Del Mar. The current ownership claimed Pay Any Price for $25,000 in July 2016, and he was running for a tag as low as $8,000 earlier that year.

Pay Any Price last raced on Aug. 1, winning the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream. He set Gulfstream’s five-furlong turf course record in the Silks Run Stakes in March.

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