Pudding gets back to business in overnight handicap

Horsemen and horseplayers have had to wait six days to get back to action on the South Florida circuit after Tropical Storm Alex inundated the area with rain, forcing management to cancel the races at Gulfstream Park last Saturday and Sunday. Trainer Elizabeth Dobles, meanwhile, has had to wait a lot longer before getting her stakes winner Pudding back to action.

Pudding has been idle for nearly 11 weeks and returns as the likely favorite in Thursday’s main event, a six-furlong overnight handicap over the main track.

Pudding has not started since proving a courageous winner of the NYRA Bets Sprint on March 27 at Tampa Bay Downs. Ridden by Javier Castellano, he outgamed defending champ and Grade 2 winner Tap It to Win after contesting the pace nearly every step of the six-furlong dash. The victory was the first for Pudding since he captured an overnight handicap at Gulfstream in early August and the second since he was claimed by Dobles and Imaginary Stables for $25,000 last summer.

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“He has been ready to run back, but there were no races for him other than the Big Drama Stakes for Florida-breds since he won at Tampa, and we felt waiting for this spot was the better option because it allowed us to keep him at his favorite distance and run him with Lasix, which we couldn’t have done in the stakes,” Dobles explained. “We used a different tactic in his last start, going to the front, for which I give Javier all the credit.”

A 7-year-old son of Two Step Salsa, Pudding was assigned top weight of 126 pounds on Thursday, conceding up to 10 pounds to his six rivals. Dobles said she’s not concerned about Pudding being able to handle the weight.

“I ride him every morning and that’s what I weigh,” Dobles said with a laugh. “And I like the fact he drew outside and there appears to be a good deal of speed in the field for him to chase.”

The speed Dobles refers to includes win machines such as Reservenotattained and Absolute Grit. Reservenotattained has won 8 of 17 starts, and Absolute Grit had won three in a row before finishing second as a 4-5 favorite over a sloppy track in his last start.

Real Talk is hoping to recapture the form that resulted in a stakes win and a third in a Grade 2 sprint last summer at 3. Winless since registering an easy victory in the Jersey Shore Stakes last August at Monmouth Park, Real Talk was claimed for $62,500 out of a third-place finish on April 30 and returns to dirt after a sixth-place finish in a turf sprint handicap on May 28 in his first start off the claim.

Old Time Reival and High Yield Kitten, who finished first and second in a $16,000 optional-claiming race four weeks earlier, complete the lineup in a race that could prove a stepping-stone to the Grade 3 Smile Sprint on July 2.

◗ The racing office brought back several races on Friday’s card lost due to the cancellations last weekend, including the $60,000 Bay Harbor Island Handicap at five furlongs on the turf for fillies and mares. The race was redrawn with the same number of entrants, seven, as last week but with the notable addition of Running Memories and withdrawal of My Destiny from the original lineup.

Miss Auramet is the highweight under 124 pounds. Headline Hunter, who carries two pounds less than Miss Auramet, is the likely favorite in light of her easy victory over that rival in the Captiva Island Stakes earlier this season.