Igloo tries turf off 10-month layoff

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Turf racing has for the most part been limited since the four-month Gulfstream Park championship meet began in hopes of preserving a course that has been cut in half with the addition of the Tapeta surface during the fall.

Only five grass races were carded over the first three days this week, one of them being Thursday’s $61,000 allowance feature for fillies and mares at five furlongs. The field of nine is made up primarily of recent ship-ins to the local area, led by the lightly raced but promising Igloo and likely favorite Abuse of Power.

Igloo has started just twice and has been idle since finishing third after contesting a rapid pace in a stakes run over the synthetic surface at Turway Park in late February. The daughter of Mshawish won her only other start in impressive fashion, and will be making her turf debut on Thursday.

:: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures.

“She had kind of the typical 2- and 3-year-old stuff, foot issues and a little bone bruising, that required time off after her last start,” said trainer Jonathan Thomas. “She flashed a lot of speed in her early training and we weren’t going to take anything away from her in her first two starts. But with the time off, she’s learned to relax a lot and gallop out better in her works, so she might show a new dimension in this race.”

Thomas said he’s confident Igloo will have no problem transitioning from the synthetic to the grass.

“I was able to get her on the turf at Belmont and she breezed nicely and looked like she handled it really well that day,” said Thomas, who has 30 horses stabled at Payson Park. “So I don’t see it being an issue. In fact, I’m kind of excited to finally get to run her on the grass and get her started back up again.”

Thomas said he’s pleased with the way his barn has performed this year, with 41 victories on the season and an outstanding 30-percent win rate with just a week to go before closing out the record books for 2021.

“I think we’ve made the most of what we’ve had this year, and we’ve got some young horses down here now we can hope with a little bit,” said Thomas. “Whether they’re good enough to take that next step, we’ll have to see.”

Among Thomas’s top prospects is Send for Me, a 2-year-old Into Mischief filly who cruised to a seven-length victory in her debut last month at Aqueduct.

“I’m quietly excited about her, but we’ll bring her along slow, start looking at allowance races with the hope of getting her to some of the big filly races down here later in the meet,” said Thomas.

Abuse of Power returned from nearly a year on the sidelines to turn in a big effort in her 2021 debut on Oct. 22 at Belmont, finishing third after setting a contested pace under entry-level allowance conditions for trainer Philip Antonacci. Abuse of Power had closed out her juvenile campaign finishing a game second, beaten just a neck, to Robin Sparkles, who has turned into a graded stakes-placed win machine. Abuse of Power was disqualified and placed third for interference in that race.

Harry Benson dies at 90

Trainer Harry Benson, a fixture on the South Florida circuit since the late 1970s, died last Friday at the age of 90.

Benson served as president of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. He led several caravans of horsemen to the state capitol in Tallahassee to protest bills regarding Thoroughbred issues, including the winter dates disputes between Gulfstream and Hialeah Park over the years.

Benson saddled more than 500 winners during a training career that began in 1976, including graded stakes winners Dry Martini, Proud Man, and Barbara O’Brien. His son Alan still trains the turf specialist Durocher, upset winner of the Tropical Park Derby here in December of 2017, who finished fifth in Sunday’s main event.