Jackie's Warrior looms large in Gallant Bob
Multiple Grade 1 winner Jackie’s Warrior looms a prohibitive favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gallant Bob Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters at Parx Racing.
Trainer Steve Asmussen could have waited for the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh on Oct. 9 at Belmont for Jackie’s Warrior’s final Breeders’ Cup prep, but the timing of the Gallant Bob was ultimately the determining factor in starting at Parx.
“The timing worked out,” Asmussen said Wednesday afternoon. “From Oct. 9 to the Breeders’ Cup with air travel with horses potentially being more difficult, it made that [situation] too nervous for me. Finding a different spot, the Gallant Bob, fell into what we were thinking perfectly.”
Owned by J. Kirk and Judy Robison, Jackie’s Warrior cuts back a furlong following a Grade 1 victory in Saratoga’s H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at seven-eighths. The Maclean’s Music colt earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure defeating Life Is Good by a neck following a thrilling stretch drive. Life Is Good will be an overwhelming favorite in his own right Saturday in Belmont’s Grade 2, $300,000 Kelso Handicap.
“It was a great race,” Asmussen said about the Jerkens. “I loved the confidence Jackie’s Warrior displayed in not panicking when Life Is Good broke so much sharper than he did.”
Jackie’s Warrior will start from the outside post under Joel Rosario, and that pleases Asmussen.
“If you could have hand-picked where would you’d like to put him in the race, that is where I would have liked him to start from against this group,” he said.
Pennsylvania-bred Beren might have the best chance at upsetting Jackie’s Warrior. The Weigelia colt has won his last four sprints by a combined 26 3/4 lengths. Two back, he finished seventh racing nine furlongs in Saratoga’s Curlin Stakes.
“We weren’t happy with Jackie’s Warrior showing up,” trainer Butch Reid said. “Maybe we could use a little home-field advantage and see if that helps us. He certainly likes this racetrack, and he gets to run straight out of his stall without worrying about shipping.”
Reid mentioned Beren’s tactical speed as one of the colt’s best attributes.
“He doesn’t need the lead,” Reid said. “It looks like there’s a fair amount of speed, so we should be able to ease off them and get a nice comfortable trip from the outside.”
Beren hasn’t recorded a published workout since his victory in the Parx Summer Sprint on Aug. 24, and that has been by design.
“He’s done plenty of racing and shipped a lot,” Reid said. “We gave him a little blowout down the lane on Saturday. Before the Curlin, we breezed him 46 and change at Saratoga, and we felt it took a lot out of his race.”
Kelly Breen entered both Newbomb and Pickin’ Time.
“Going into this race, we didn’t think Jackie’s Warrior was going,” admitted Breen, who mentioned that he might “look for a different spot and possibly scratch” Newbomb.
Pickin’ Time defeated New Jersey-breds sprinting on Aug. 29 at Monmouth, but Breen mentioned his “best distance is probably a mile.”
Stakes winner Real Talk, multiple stakes-placed Awesome Gerry, and stakes-placed Marvalous Mike also entered.