Pool Winner must show his best in stakes debut
Pool Winner has been perfect since November and is unquestionably the horse to beat in the $60,000 My Frenchman Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday. But the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint includes several under-the-radar runners, and Pool Winner will need a top effort to win his stakes debut.
Trained by Alan Goldberg, Pool Winner closed out his 3-year-old season with a first-level allowance win at Laurel Park. He returned in May to win a second-level optional-claiming race at Laurel and has since won a third-level optional claimer at Parx Racing and a no-conditions allowance at Laurel.
Pool Winner is now 14-5-6-0 in his career for the Colts Neck Stables of Richard Santulli and will be favored over his seven My Frenchman rivals.
Bold Thunder has been a mainstay of the Northeast turf-sprint stakes ranks the past two years, but his form is muddled coming into this race. He was beaten 2 3/4 lengths by Pool Winner after a poor start July 17 at Laurel. That no-conditions allowance was Bold Thunder’s first start since March and his first since having throat surgery.
“I think the throat operation was a success,” said Mike Farro, who with his wife, Patricia, trains Bold Thunder. “The horse is doing great. He hesitated and then lunged at the break of his last race. If he runs an entire race Saturday, I think he can win.”
Farro said Bold Thunder would run in the My Frenchman as long as it doesn’t rain. If it does, Laurel has another no-conditions allowance in its condition book for next Friday.
Bold Thunder has blazing speed. In his final start at Gulfstream, just prior to his surgery, he raced on a 20.92-second and 43.52-second pace before flattening out to finish fourth; the top two finishers in that race came back to win. Three starts back, he was bumped hard at the start, losing his best chance.
If Bold Thunder runs well Saturday, Farro plans to bring him back in the Grade 3, $300,000 Turf Monster at Parx on Sept. 5
My Frenchman, Race 9
Key Contenders
Bold Thunder, by Bold n’ Flashy
Last 3 Beyers: 82-78-83
◗ Mike and Patricia Farro are having another successful season and through Wednesday had 94 wins and more than $2.8 million in stable earnings. The Farros led the trainer standings at Parx in 2013 and are 29 wins in front this year.
Pool Winner, by Broken Vow
Last 3 Beyers: 91-90-84
◗ At 3, he had two wins and six seconds. He’s on a four-race win streak.
◗ It will be interesting to see how he handles pace pressure from Bold Thunder.
Run for Logistics, by Bernstein
Last 3 Beyers: 88-90-90
◗ In two starts since being turned over to Eddie Plesa Jr., he has won a second-level optional claimer and finished a solid fourth in the Grade 3 Parx Dash. At age 5, he seems to be rounding into the best form of his career.
◗ If Pool Winner and Bold Thunder cook each other on the front end, he is the likely beneficiary.