Remind best on class and figs
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Any way you slice it, Remind will be tough to beat in Thursday's $38,000 allowance feature over the Gulfstream Park turf course.
For those who like class, Remind comes into the race off a tough neck defeat to the graded stakes winner Burning Roma in the Tampa Bay Breeders' Cup Handicap. got off a step slowly in the Tampa BC and raced toward the rear of the 12-horse field for the opening six furlongs of the 1 1/16-mile race. He advanced gradually around the final turn, then finished with a strong surge once he changed leads near midstretch. But he was left with too much ground to make up on the winner, who had drawn well clear at the sixteenth pole.
Remind showed class as a 3-year-old in 2003, winning Keeneland's Storm Cat Stakes and finishing second in four graded stakes, including the Arlington Classic and American Turf at Churchill Downs.
For those who like speed figures, Remind is also a standout on Thursday. In fact, this son of Deputy Minister has not regressed once in 10 starts on the grass. His performance in the Tampa Bay BC earned him a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Cornelio Velasquez, who was aboard Remind for two graded stakes placings in 2003, has the call from trainer Bill Mott.
Among those with the best chance of upsetting Remind are Chilly Rooster, Fast Decision, and Global Quest. Private Gold, Thefull Circle, and Flank Attack round out the field.
finished fourth in his two previous grass starts, both promising efforts earlier in the meet. Trainer Allen Jerkens equipped Chilly Rooster with blinkers and Lasix for the first time in his last start, and he prompted the pace before weakening in the final furlong. Jerkens will make a rider change from seven-pound apprentice Shannon Uske to veteran Manoel Cruz on Thursday.
Fast Decision is also lightly raced on the turf, having finished third behind the odds-on Silver Tree in his turf debut under similar third-level allowance conditions on Feb. 21. A son of Gulch, Fast Decision won the Grade 3 Withers on the main track at Aqueduct in the spring of 2002.
Global Quest comes off an 11-month layoff for trainer Shug McGaughey. A versatile runner, Global Request won two allowance races, one on grass the other on a sloppy main track, here last winter. Global Quest has not started since finishing far back in the Grade 3 Ft. Marcy Handicap in the slop on April 26.