Liam returns from long layoff in allowance
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Racing resumes Wednesday with a nine-race program featuring a pair of $61,000 allowance races for 3-year-olds and up, one on dirt, the second at five furlongs on grass.
Trainer Todd Pletcher will send out the likely favorite Liam in the seventh event, carded at a mile over the main track. Liam has not started since finishing third after setting a contested pace in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park nearly 15 months ago. He joined Pletcher’s barn late this summer and shows six works in preparation for his return, including five furlongs in 1:00.36 punctuated by a strong gallop-out here last Wednesday.
Liam, who has raced only four times, will face eight rivals, all more experienced, including the uncoupled Arindel pair of Gump and Hercules along with Create Again.
Gump comes off what appeared to be a much-needed outing under similar conditions here a month ago. Trained by Carlos David, he finished third while stretching to a mile for the first time in more than 18 months. Hercules, who hails from the barn of trainer Juan Alvarado, returns to dirt after a pair of starts over the Tapeta surface, including a third-place finish with a career-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure against straight 3-year-old allowance opposition on Oct. 2.
Create Again has seven victories in 32 starts, including a wire-to-wire 4 1/4-length triumph under the same conditions as Wednesday’s race in his most recent appearance on Sept. 19.
A field of just seven turf-sprint specialists will hook up in the eighth race, with Kentucky invader Thing, Cable Channel, and Coop Tries Harder among the leading contenders. The wide-open lineup also includes the speedy Freewheeler, Like What I See, Kasim, and Dr. Duke.