Re-claimed Boat's a Rockin could go favored in deep sprint

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – They saved the best for last here Sunday, with an $86,000 optional-claiming and allowance dash at five furlongs on the turf slotted as race 10. The sprint drew a well-matched field of 10, plus a pair on the also-eligible list, with the 9-year-old win machine Boat’s a Rockin, a popular item at the claim box of late, perhaps the tepid favorite.

Boat’s a Rockin has won 16 of 47 lifetime starts, including a similarly conditioned turf sprint by a half-length for trainer Carlos David on Jan. 11. David lost the son of Red Rocks via the claim box for $25,000 that afternoon but took him back for the same price out of a fourth-place finish against similarly conditioned foes four weeks later.

Boat’s a Rockin’s 16 victories are just one less than the combined win total of the rest of the field. The group includes key contenders Fast Town, Innate, Courtly Banker, and Cyclonite.

The lightly raced Fast Town matched a career-high 88 Beyer Speed Figure in his last start when second best going six furlongs on the main track, also against optional-claiming and allowance opposition. He will try grass for the first time, weather permitting, on Sunday.

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Innate has hit the board in five of his six career starts, the lone blemish during that span a fourth-place finish in the Awad Stakes when making his U.S. debut in fall 2023.

Courtly Banker has been idle since far and away his best effort to date, a four-length allowance victory against New York-breds last August at Saratoga for which he earned an 89 Beyer. He will be making his first local appearance Sunday.

Cyclonite has finished second in each of his last four starts and was stakes-placed when beaten a nose in the Carle Place last fall over the turf at Aqueduct. He’s been a model of consistency for trainer Mark Casse from a Beyer standpoint, posting figures of 89 or 90 in each of his last three outings.

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