Impressive debut winner Strike Power takes big step up in Swale
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Strike Power drew raves with a 102 Beyer Speed Figure when trainer Mark Hennig unveiled him in December. Nice, for sure, but his second start Saturday in the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park should give far greater context to that eye-catching debut.
Strike Power, with leading jockey Luis Saez back to ride, will be making the leap from the maiden ranks to a graded stakes and stretching out from 5 1/2 to seven furlongs in the 33rd running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Swale, the first of seven stakes for 3-year-olds on a 12-race card that starts at noon Eastern.
“It’s a big step up, but there’s not a bunch in there that have been running in graded stakes, so they’re kind of all stepping up,” said Hennig, who trains Strike Power for the Courtlandt Farm of Donald Adam. “The second start of his life into a stakes is still a tough row to hoe.”
This should be a very fair test indeed for Strike Power, who will break from the outside post in a field of six, since all but one of his opponents have won at least one ungraded stakes.
Diamond King (post 1, Frankie Pennington) is 3 for 3 – including a victory in the Heft Stakes at Laurel Park – if you don’t count the Kentucky Jockey Club, in which Pennington was injured in a fall when the colt clipped heels into the clubhouse turn. Diamond King will be making his first start since being turned over to trainer John Servis upon partial ownership interest in the colt being sold to the DJ Stable of Leonard Green.
Tricks to Doo (post 2, Jose Ortiz), trained by Arnaud Delacour, won the Dec. 16 Inaugural at his home base of Tampa Bay Downs by 7 1/4 lengths and now faces the toughest task of his career.
Gotta Go (post 3, Chris Landeros) won the Street Sense on the first Stars of Tomorrow card at the Churchill Downs fall meet and will be looking to rebound from a troubled outing in the KJC for Ian Wilkes.
Piven (post 5, Irad Ortiz Jr.) was terrific in winning the restricted Limehouse Stakes for Kevin Attard here four weeks ago and surely will be one of the wagering favorites.
“He’s going to have to step up, but I don’t know why he can’t,” Attard said.
Empire Power (post 4, Edgard Zayas) rounds out the Swale as the longest shot in the field.
The Swale, named for the ill-fated Claiborne Farm colt who won the Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Belmont Stakes in 1984, is carded as the fourth race (post 1:30) and will be run some three hours before its twin sister stakes, the Forward Gal.
Like the Swale, the Grade 2, $200,000 Forward Gal lacks a graded winner in its lineup while also having a sharp first-out Courtlandt-Hennig winner, My Miss Lilly, breaking from the outside post on a substantial class raise. The likely favorites are Take Charge Paula and Miss Mo Mentum.
Take Charge Paula (post 4, Paco Lopez) will be making her first start since Peter Deutsch purchased her privately and turned her over to Kiaran McLaughlin.
“She’s done everything right in the morning, but that was to be expected,” McLaughlin said. “She’s a three-time stakes winner and is already a real pro. Let’s see if we can’t knock out a graded race with her right away. That’d be nice.”
Miss Mo Mentum (post 7, Tyler Gaffalione) has been sensational in winning her last two starts, both for trainer Mark Casse, including the ungraded Hut Hut here Dec. 9. The daughter of Uncle Mo shows a series of smart works in the interim at the Palm Meadows training center.
Fringe contenders in the 38th Forward Gal include Sultry (post 1, Jose Ortiz), a two-back winner of a restricted stakes at Churchill for Eddie Kenneally; Heavenhasmynikki (post 3, Saez), unbeaten in two starts, both for Loooch Racing; and Violent Times (post 6, Zayas), who like My Miss Lilly (post 8, Javier Castellano) was a clear-cut winner of her lone start.
Morning Destiny (post 2, Irad Ortiz Jr.) and Foxtrot Sally (post 5, Landeros) fill out the cast.
The Forward Gal, named for the champion 2-year-old filly of 1970, goes as race 10 (post, 4:43). Cathryn Sophia used the race as a stepping-stone to winning the Kentucky Oaks two years ago.
