Mr. Prospector no gimme for Coal Front

Coal Front has raced just once in the last 15 months, and yet horseplayers probably won’t be able to keep themselves from making him the favorite Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.

Coal Front drew the outside post as one of 11 3-year-olds and upward in the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector, which drew one of its deeper lineups in recent years. After winning four of his first five starts, all for trainer Todd Pletcher, Coal Front suffered a condylar fracture to his right foreleg and was given more than a year to recover.

In his long-awaited return in the Nov. 2 Bold Ruler at Aqueduct, Coal Front evidently was in need of a race, as he faded badly as the 122-pound highweight to finish fifth. Nonetheless, in view of his terrific form as a 3-year-old and four more workouts since that comeback effort, Gulfstream bettors likely will be in a forgiving mood when Pletcher gives John Velazquez a leg up.

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Victory via dramatic rebound doesn’t figure to come easily. The opposition includes Wild Shot (post 6, Brian Hernandez Jr. the rider), who returned last month with a sharp runner-up finish at Churchill Downs behind the highly regarded Copper Bullet; the well-traveled Heartwood (post 6, Irad Ortiz Jr.), who will be competing at his ninth different track this year; and Uno Mas Modelo (post 8, Albin Jimenez), a winner of his last two starts, both for Loooch Racing, ending with an improbable score in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit despite an awful start on Dec. 1 at Gulfstream.

Two locally based gray geldings also merit consideration: Kroy (post 2, Paco Lopez), owned by Midwest Thoroughbreds and trained by Armando De La Cerda, and Conquest Big E (post 9, Jose Ortiz), owned by Danny Hurtak and his wife, trainer Donna Green. Both Kroy and Conquest Big E won at Gulfstream Park West last out.

Rounding out the lineup are Sweetontheladies, Storm Advisory, J. S. Choice, K Choice, and Belle Tapisserie.

The Mr. Prospector, named for the world-renowned stallion who died in 1999 at age 29, goes as the 10th of 11 races and therefore is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 6-11), which had its jackpot emptied Wednesday when an XpressBet customer hit for $580,349.

The winner of the 2017 Mr. Prospector was X Y Jet, who was sidelined in October because of a chronic knee problem.

First post Saturday is noon Eastern, with the feature going at 4:36 and the last race at 5:06. The local forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 68.