I Want Revenge may use allowance as prep for Donn Handicap

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The connections of I Want Revenge haven’t given up hope on the colt returning to his former glory.

I Want Revenge, the morning-line favorite for the 2009 Kentucky Derby before he was scratched the morning of the race due to an ankle injury, is preparing for his second comeback of the year. After returning from a 15-month layoff with third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap and Grade 3 Philip Iselin Stakes, I Want Revenge disappeared again.

He returned to the work tab on Nov. 10 and has breezed five times in the last month, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.51 over Aqueduct’s inner track on Thursday. Mike Iavarone, head of IEAH Stables which owns I Want Revenge, said he’s hoping to get an allowance race into the horse at the end of December as a prep for the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 5.

“He’s doing great,” Iavarone said. “I think we got every little chink out of him. He’s the best he’s ever been.”

Iavarone said in hindsight running I Want Revenge back off a long layoff in the Suburban, where he finished third behind Haynesfield, was not the best idea.

“I just think maybe we got ahead of ourselves,” Iavarone said. “I think running him back against those kind of horses was a little too much too fast; we had his head screwed up. We threw him to the sharks a little too fast.

“He just needed to get his feet back under him,” Iavarone added. “This time we came along much slower. We’re going to start off in an allowance race and build him back up to his best. I think we got a really, really good chance to have a top, top older horse next year.”

It was at Aqueduct in 2009 where I Want Revenge came of age, winning the Grade 3 Gotham over the inner track by 8 1/2 lengths before overcoming a stumbling start to win the Grade 1 Wood Memorial over the main track on April 4.

In addition to I Want Revenge, IEAH is planning to bring Court Vision back to the races in 2011. A multiple Grade 1 winner, Court Vision most recently finished fourth, beaten two lengths, in the Grade 2 Citation at Hollywood Park.

Iavarone said John Roberts of Resolute Stables, the majority owner of Court Vision, wants “to enjoy the horse and the horse is still pretty eager.”

Iavarone said Court Vision will shortly join trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.’s south Florida stable and will likely be pointed to the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on Feb. 5. Court Vision was put up from second to first in that race last year.