McGaughey eager to see what he has in Statesman
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Trainer Shug McGaughey hopes to learn a little more about Statesman when the recent 3-year-old maiden winner takes on winners for the first time in an entry-level allowance/optional $75,000 claiming race that kicks off Wednesday’s nine-race Tampa Bay Downs program.
As a 2-year-old, Statesman didn’t show McGaughey much in the morning or the afternoon, going winless in his first three starts. Shipped to Tampa to begin his 3-year-old campaign, Statesman got up in the final strides to win a mile and 40-yard maiden race over Majorca. It looked in upper stretch of that race that Majorca was getting away, but Statesman found a little more to get up.
“He was green,” McGaughey said. “He was sort of shutting it down and then he picked it up again and it looked like he was going to be second and he finished well to win. I think he’ll be much improved this time at least in that area. I don’t think he’ll be quite as green as he was last time.
“What kind of horse he is, I don’t know,” McGaughey added. “He trains a lot better than he did before. Early on, when he was a 2-year-old, he didn’t train that good.”
A field of six was entered for this mile and 40-yard contest. Earlier on the same Jan. 17 card that Statesman won, Lastabitlonger finished second in this condition, beaten by odds-on favorite Vassimo, who was winning his second straight race. In that race, Lastabitlonger got loose on the lead and fought back when Vassimo came to him before grudgingly giving way in the final sixteenth.
Vassimo came back to finish fourth, beaten 12 1/2 lengths, in the 12-horse, Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes. Lastatbilonger, who breaks from the rail Wednesday under Samy Camacho, could play out as the primary speed in this race on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Saturday’s field, R N R Audible finished fourth in the same race in which Lastabitlonger was second. Truly Legit and Fully Authorized have been running on turf recently. Centerfold Guy comes off a win, but it was in a $16,000 maiden claiming race.
First post Wednesday at Tampa is 12:40 p.m.
◗ Rouki earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for his 20-1 upset in last Saturday’s $125,000 Turf Dash Stakes. Rouki is now 5 for 10, with wins on turf, dirt, and synthetic.
Since trainer Gerald Bennett ran Rouki back in three weeks for the Turf Dash, he indicated after the race that he wouldn’t be in much of a hurry to run him back for his next start. Bennett did not rule out returning Rouki to dirt at Tampa in the $110,000 NYRABets Sprint, a six-furlong race restricted to Florida-breds on March 30.
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