Mister Marti Gras goes to Florida to gear up for 2015 campaign

Mister Marti Gras turns 8 in less than a month, but the gelding is not showing his age. Mister Marti Gras ran his typical graded stakes-caliber race last weekend at Hawthorne, finishing second in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gold Cup for the second year in a row.

With better luck, Mister Marti Gras – fourth in the 2011 and 2012 Gold Cup – might have won this race, but he had a poor outside draw and rallied from the back of the field and wide over an inside-speed-favoring surface that helped propel Red Rifle to victory.

“He’s just been remarkably healthy, and he came out of this race again in good shape,” said Chris Block, who trains Mister Marti Gras for owner-breeder Bob Lothenbach.

Block said Mister Marti Gras will now get a little break at his family’s farm in Ocala, Fla., but Mister Marti Gras could see action at Gulfstream Park, on turf or on dirt, sometime this winter.

“We’ll keep him going this winter, but I don’t want to do too much with him. We’ll set him up to come back north and go through the same paces he has the last couple years. I don’t see why he couldn’t have a productive 8-year-old year,” Block said.

There are no set plans for the Block-trained 2-year-old filly No Fault of Mine, who was second last Saturday in the Golden Rod at Churchill and who also will spend time in Ocala. Block said that his 2-year-old colt Nun the Less, second last out in the Street Sense at Churchill, will be pointed to a turf route stakes at the Gulfstream meet. Both of those 2-year-olds also are Lothenbach homebreds.