Private Prospect looks to get back on track in Smarty Jones

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Private Prospect brought a tidy record into last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. The multiple stakes winner had won 3 of 4 career starts, with his lone loss coming by a head when he finished second in the Grade 3 Arlington Washington Futurity.

The horse’s efforts had Mellon Patch Stable and trainer Mike Campbell optimistic heading into Private Prospect’s biggest career test last November. But right out of the gate, Private Prospect’s hopes were dashed when he apparently was stepped on in a development that led to a sprung right front shoe on which he raced, said Campbell.

“He didn’t get a fair opportunity,” Campbell said of running on the displaced shoe. “As a consequence of that, he cut himself behind pretty good.”

Private Prospect, who finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup, has since regrouped, and his camp is looking forward to launching his 3-year-old season Monday in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park. The horse arrived here in December.

Campbell said that after the Breeders’ Cup, Private Prospect was sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., for evaluation. From there, the horse was freshened in Kentucky.

“We vetted him out, and everything was negative,” Campbell said. “He was judged to be in good working order, and so at that point, I did feel like he’d had a significant amount of racing, and based on the shoe issue at the Breeders’ Cup, I thought I’d give him 30 days off at Woodford Thoroughbreds Farm. So, I did that, then I brought him down to Hot Springs about Dec. 3, and we began to prepare for his 3-year-old races.”

Private Prospect already is a winner at the one-mile distance of the Smarty Jones, having accounted for the $100,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Mile on Aug. 9. It was his second career stakes win, following the $75,000 Prairie Meadows Gold Juvenile at 5 1/2 furlongs July 19. Earlier in his career, Private Prospect won his debut at Arlington Park.

He breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 from the gate at Oaklawn in his most recent work last Monday. The move ranked eighth of 30 at the distance that morning at Oaklawn.

Campbell said he plans to ask Oaklawn stewards for permission to saddle Private Prospect inside Monday if the plan is to have riders up in the infield, as is often the case with stakes at Oaklawn. Campbell said Private Prospect has been known to be fractious in the paddock.

“Once he is out of the paddock and on the racetrack, he settles very nicely,” said Campbell.

Private Prospect will be ridden by the Oaklawn-based Alex Birzer in the Smarty Jones, said Campbell.