Runaway Ghost back from injury in Ft. Bliss Stakes

Racing has its share of bitter pills to swallow, and the one the connections of Runaway Ghost had to endure last spring was particularly distasteful. Just weeks before Joe Peacock’s homebred was set to run in the Kentucky Derby, he sustained an injury in a workout at his base of Sunland Park.

“We hate to miss this because everybody is so excited for the owners to live the dream, run in the Kentucky Derby,” trainer Todd Fincher said last April. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Fast forward 10 months, and happy times are here again. Runaway Ghost has healed from the fracture to his right front cannon bone and is set to launch his 4-year-old season Saturday. He goes in the $75,000 Ft. Bliss, a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up that marks his first start since capturing the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby.

“He’s ready to run,” Fincher said. “He’s been ready for close to a month now.”

The Ft. Bliss will anchor a card of three stakes at Sunland Park. The program also includes the $85,000 Red Hedeman for 3-year-olds and the $85,000 Enchantress for 3-year-old fillies, with both one-mile races restricted to runners bred in New Mexico.

Runaway Ghost took New Mexico by storm last year, putting together a powerful 3-year-old campaign at Sunland. He won the $106,000 Riley Allison Derby in his first start in the state, then was second to Reride in the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby before closing with a flourish to win the Sunland Derby over a deep field of shippers from Southern California and Florida.

Those races all came around two turns, and Runaway Ghost, a son of Ghostzapper, will be cutting back to one turn to launch his season in the Ft. Bliss. He is, however, a stakes winner at six furlongs, having won the $55,000 Golden Nugget at Golden Gate at 2. He also won his maiden in a five-furlong race at Santa Anita.

“Ultimately, the better races are longer,” Fincher said. “We know one thing for sure, he can run short. Off a 10-month layoff, six furlongs will be just fine to get him back started again.”

Fincher said the rehabilitation process went well for Runaway Ghost.

“He’s done excellent,” he said. “No hiccups. No setbacks.”

Santiago Gonzalez has the mount from post 6 in a field of seven.

Others set to start include Wake Up Malibu, who is making his first start at Sunland after being based on the East Coast. He enters off a third-place finish in an optional $32,000 claiming race at seven furlongs last March at Laurel.

The race goes as the fifth on Saturday.

The Fincher trainee Hustle Up figures to be favored in the Red Hedeman. He won at two turns in his last start, rolling by three lengths in the $145,000 Steve Prather on Dec. 10 at Zia Park. It was the horse’s sixth win from eight career starts. He will break from post 4 in the field of 10 and is to be ridden by Luis Contreras.

M G M’s Victoria brings the best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 64, into the Enchantress. She will be making her two-turn debut, as will all six of her rivals.