Pat Day Mile next test for Imperial Hint

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Imperial Hint, the impressive winner of the $75,000 Sophomore Stakes on the Florida Cup card at Tampa Bay Downs last Saturday, is being pointed for the Grade 3, $250,000 Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby card at Churchill Downs on May 7. The race is for 3-year-olds and covers one mile on the main track.

Imperial Hint, an Imperialism colt trained by Luis Carvajal Jr. for owner Raymond Mamone, improved his record to 2 for 2 in the Sophomore Stakes, which was restricted to 3-year-old Florida-breds. The horse led throughout under top local jockey Antonio Gallardo for a 6 3/4-length victory as the 7-10 favorite. Imperial Hint finished the seven-furlong race on a fast track in 1:22.15 and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

In his career debut here Feb. 19, Imperial Hint scored a front-running 4 1/4-length victory in a $22,700 maiden special weight race, finishing that seven-furlong test in 1:22.39 and getting an 81 Beyer.

Carvajal said that Mamone began receiving lucrative offers to sell the horse after the maiden victory, when there was still time to point for a Kentucky Derby prep race, and has gotten more offers since Saturday’s victory. But Mamone is unlikely to sell since it has been his lifelong dream to have a horse this good.

“Money talks, but I’m like 90 percent sure he won’t sell unless he gets a ridiculous number that he can’t refuse,” Carvajal said. “He ran a really good race and came back good after the race, so I think we’re going to go to the Pat Day Mile.”

Carvajal, 43, who is based at Monmouth Park and trains a small string of horses, worked as an assistant and exercise rider for trainers Angel Penna Jr. and Bob Durso before going out on his own in 2006. He’s won 70 races from 838 starters as a trainer, with his runners earning $2.13 million.

Among his best horses were Fagedaboudit Sal, who won the $70,000 Bob Harding Stakes at Monmouth in 2008, and Dabnabit, who won the $68,850 John J. Reilly Handicap and the $66,650 Colts Neck Handicap for New Jersey-breds at Monmouth in 2011. He said Imperial Hint is the best horse he’s ever trained.

Carvajal said he wanted to run Imperial Hint as a 2-year-old, but the horse often would get rank and overly aggressive in his training, so Carvajal decided to back off on him and wait for his 3-year-old season.

“The first time out, I was confident that he’d run good, and I was very impressed,” he said. “He’s not a big horse, but he’s very well put together, and you can spot him from a mile away when he trains because he stands out.”