Necker Island looks to move up in second start off layoff
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Necker Island is a Derby horse, times three. Now 4, the Hard Spun colt competed in the Indiana Derby, Ellis Park Derby, and Kentucky Derby last year prior to Chris Hartman sending him to the sidelines.
“We gave him some R and R, hoping when we brought him back around he’d step up to become a useful 4-year-old,” said Hartman, the 48-year-old Phoenix-born trainer who has made Kentucky his primary base since 2015 after saddling more than 1,000 winners, most of them in the far Southwest.
On Sunday at Churchill Downs, Necker Island will try to get through a second allowance condition as part of a highly competitive field in race 8, a $104,000 allowance going a one-turn mile on the main track. It’s the second of back-to-back co-features on a nine-race card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.
After finishing a no-threat ninth at 49-1 in the Kentucky Derby last September, Necker Island returned from a layoff of more than seven months on April 23 at Oaklawn Park, finishing a hard-closing second in a one-mile allowance.
“He didn’t have the best of trips and actually ran a hell of a race in Hot Springs,” Hartman said. “They usually need a race off a layoff like that, so hopefully he can move up off it.”
It was the fourth start for Necker Island – and first non-Derby – since the chestnut colt was claimed at Churchill nearly a year ago by Hartman for $100,000 on behalf of a partnership that included Wayne Scherr and Ray Daniels, who have since been joined by Will Harbut, as co-owners.
Necker Island, with Mitch Murrill to ride, will break from post 10, although the colt will wear saddlecloth No. 1. He’s coupled for wagering purposes with Glory Road (No. 1A), the lone also-eligible in an oversubscribed lineup of 13.
Among the chief opposition for Necker Island in what shapes up as a scramble is Relentless Dancer, entered for an optional $62,500 tag after being claimed off an easy win by Tom Amoss, and Taishan, who’ll have leading jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard for California-based trainer Richard Baltas.
Hartman began this week in conspicuous fashion by winning a pair of off-the-turf sprints Thursday with Elle Z ($9.80) and Loopallu ($14.80). Since moving to Kentucky, Hartman has been a bettor’s delight, particularly at Churchill, where through Thursday he has won at a solid 18-percent clip (105 for 584), frequently at a decent mutuel.
The preceding allowance (race 7) here Sunday also drew 13, with Grey Streak the only also-eligible. It’s a $102,000, first-level turf route restricted to 3-year-olds, and there’s no obvious standout in this one, either. Bryce Canyon, a Godolphin homebred making his first start since closing weekend at Fair Grounds, figures among a core of lukewarm favorites, along with Scarlet Fusion and Hard Rye Guy.
After Sunday, Churchill goes dark for three days before another four-day week resumes Thursday with an eight-race twilight card. The highlight next weekend is the Grade 3 Mint Julep, part of a nighttime program Saturday.