With no Private Zone, Smile Sprint becomes an attractive spot

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Summit of Speed became an instant hit when it was inaugurated at Calder Race Course in 2000, and for many years it has served as the richest and most attractive option on the summer stakes schedule for the elite of the nation’s sprint division.

But times have changed. While the Smile Sprint and Princess Rooney continue to maintain Grade 2 status and are designated as Win and You’re In races for the Breeders’ Cup, trainers around the country now have many other lucrative options for key players in the division.

Only 17 horses were nominated to the Smile Sprint, with 20 fillies and mares on the list for the Princess Rooney. Both races will be part of the Summit of Speed program here July 2.

The key name on the nomination list for the Smile Sprint is Private Zone, a four-time Grade 1 winner who finished second behind Runhappy in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Had the connections of Private Zone opted to come for the Smile Sprint, it is likely that no one would have bothered to make the trip down for the race. But barring a last-second change of plans, Private Zone will remain in New York, and as a result, as many as five prospective Smile Sprint starters will be on a flight scheduled to arrive here next Wednesday.

Trainer David Jacobson is considering sending Chief Lion and perhaps Eighty Three for the six-furlong Smile Sprint. Both are former claimers who are in peak form.

“Chief Lion is at the top of his game right now,” said Jacobson. “The decision to come is based on a combination of things such as the fact the race is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup and that it appears neither Private Zone or Joking are coming. But at the top of the list is how well the horse is doing.”

Emanuel Esquivel has been aboard Chief Lion for his last two victories, and Jacobson said he will have first call to ride him in the Smile Sprint. If Esquivel chooses not to come, Cornelio Velasquez likely would pick up the mount.

The Smile Sprint could be a rematch between Delta Bluesman and Eighty Three, who finished first and second under allowance conditions at Monmouth Park on June 11. The win was the third in a row for Delta Bluesman, who placed in stakes over both turf and dirt here last winter.

“He’s a better horse on dirt than turf, and he’s run two big Beyers in a row,” said Jorge Navarro, who trains Delta Bluesman for Monster Racing Stables. “A lot depends on who else is going to the race, but at the moment, I’m training him for the Smile.”

Trainer Ben Colebrook is leaning toward putting Limousine Liberal on the flight for Miami next week. Limousine Liberal is coming off a head setback at the hands of Alsvid as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Aristides at Churchill Downs on June 4.

“If Private Zone stays in New York, we’re probably going to go down there,” Colebrook said on Wednesday. “Shipping is free, and it is a Win and You’re In, although he’d probably still have to run good in one of the big Breeders’ Cup preps later in the year for us to consider sending him out to California for the Sprint, regardless of what happens next week.”

Colebrook’s Churchill Downs-based colleague Michael Tomlinson was also considering bringing his top sprint prospect, Barbados, back to Gulfstream for the Smile Sprint. Barbados won a pair of stakes here at 3, including the Grade 3 Hutcheson, and was second in the Grade 3 Carry Back on the 2015 Summit of Speed card.

“Right now, I’m on the fence – we’re 50-50,” Tomlinson said on Wednesday. “From what I understand, the race isn’t coming up as tough as it could be, and he certainly does run well there, which is one of the major considerations. He’ll work here Friday, after which we’ll make the final decision.”