Kaplan mulls stakes options for East Hall

Trainer Bill Kaplan said his latest stable star, East Hall, either will stay home in south Florida to make his next start in the Aug. 30 Monarchos Stakes at Gulfstream Park or will be sent on the road again to try tougher competition in the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs a week later.

Kaplan was in good spirits when reached by phone Tuesday at Gulfstream, where East Hall was expected to return to training the following morning on the heels of the richest victory of his career last Saturday in the $300,000 Ohio Derby in suburban Cleveland.

“He’s in good shape, back in his stall after the long van ride home,” said Kaplan, a south Florida mainstay best known for his work with Musical Romance, the champion female sprinter of 2011.

East Hall, owned by Jack Hendricks and Roger Justice, already has shown himself to be a hardy sort, having raced 16 times, with the 1 1/16-mile Ohio Derby marking his third career win. With regular rider Juan Leyva aboard, the Graeme Hall gelding surged to a head triumph over Jessica’s Star in the annual ThistleDown highlight.

Kaplan picked out East Hall at the 2013 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, getting him for $55,000. The gelding has already earned $360,370, while Musical Romance, bought at the same sale in 2009 for $22,000, retired with a bankroll of almost $1.7 million.

“Maybe I’ve got a way of coming out of the Ocala 2-year-old sales with a decent horse, I guess you could say,” said Kaplan. “That’s pretty much my specialty. I don’t buy yearlings, just 2-year-olds.”

The ungraded Monarchos, a one-turn mile, is worth $75,000, whereas the 1 1/8-mile Super Derby figures to get some “name” horses in the 3-year-old division with its purse of $400,000.