Pickin' Time exchanges New York rain for Florida sunshine in Mucho Macho Man

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When the rains came just prior to the Cigar Mile last month at Aqueduct, trainer Kelly Breen called an audible and sent Firenze Fire down to South Florida instead, where he ran a close second in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector. And with a forecast for rain once again in New York this week, Breen chose to take a similar path with his Grade 3-winning 3-year-old prospect Pickin’ Time, who will skip Friday’s Jerome at Aqueduct to face nine rivals, including likely favorite Mutasaabeq, the following afternoon in the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park.

The one-mile Mucho Macho Man is the first of four major Kentucky Derby preps here this winter, including the Grade 3 Holy Bull on Jan. 30 and Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Feb. 27. Those three lead up to the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 27. The Mucho Macho Man is the fifth and final stakes on an 11-race Saturday program that begins at 12:05 p.m.

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Breen’s decision not to chance wet conditions in New York on Friday was an easy one following Pickin’ Time’s fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Remsen over a sloppy track on the Cigar Mile undercard at Aqueduct on Dec. 5. In his previous start, Pickin’ Time rallied to a decisive 2 1/4-length victory going a mile in the Grade 3 Nashua at Aqueduct, the second straight stakes tally and third win overall for the promising son of Stay Thirsty, owned by John Bowers Jr.

“When I saw the weather report in New York for the week, we shipped down last Sunday and he handled the trip well,” said Breen. “We almost got the money when we did the same thing with Firenze Fire a couple of weeks ago, and the way this horse spun his wheels in the mud in his last start, I figured we’d be much better off to run him down here as well.”

Although Pickin’ Time’s best effort came at one mile in the Nashua and he was badly outrun stretching to 1 1/8 miles in the Remsen, Breen said he’d have no problem sending Pickin’ Time around two turns again in the future.

“He’s a strong, big-bodied horse who should be able to go as far as they can write a race for him, although he has already won a couple of sprints, so if you need to step on the gas, he’s got it,” said Breen, who named Joe Bravo to ride on Saturday.

Mutasaabeq is already a Grade 2 winner over turf, although trainer Todd Pletcher wants to give the son of Into Mischief one more chance on dirt. Mutasaabeq was an impressive debut winner over the main track last summer at Saratoga before finishing a distant third behind the speedy Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 1 Hopeful. He subsequently switched to grass to register a last-to-first 2 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Bourbon at Keeneland, and then finished a wide-running 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Mustasaabeq has had five works, all on dirt, at the Palm Beach training center since shipping to South Florida after the Breeders’ Cup, including a bullet five-eighths in 1:00.60 on Dec. 19.

“He’s been training well, I want to see where we are with him, and this looks like a good spot to do that,” Pletcher said.

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Pickin’ Time and Mutasaabeq will share high weight of 122 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Mucho Macho Man.

Big Thorn was a runaway winner against Florida-breds in his last two starts, including the Juvenile Turf over a sloppy track at Gulfstream Park West in his 2-year-old finale. He will get a class check stepping back into open company in the Mucho Macho Man. He will also have to overcome breaking from the outside post in the field of 10. He will have regular rider Paco Lopez aboard.

Ultimate Badger gets some class and distance relief. He finished eighth going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs to close out his 2-year-old campaign. Ultimate Badger had won two of his first four starts, including a first-level allowance race around two turns at Churchill Downs on Oct. 25.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will send out Kiger and Awesome Gerry, each coming off a second-place finish. Kiger was defeated a head going a mile under allowance conditions here on Dec. 10, while Awesome Gerry returns from Delta Downs where he was beaten a length in the seven-furlong Jean Lafitte Stakes.

Easy Time, Jirafales, Raison d’Air, and Papetu complete the lineup.