Sharp maiden winner Just Whistle to Sir Barton

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Just Whistle, the sharp winner of a 1 1/16-mile maiden race here last Saturday in his third start, could make his next start in the $100,000 Sir Barton on the May 19 Preakness undercard at Pimlico, said trainer Michael Matz. The 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton is restricted to horses who have not won a stakes.

Just Whistle finished in 1:43.49, or faster than the 1:44.22 it took My Boy Jack to win the Lexington Stakes less than two hours later. The big effort followed a runner-up finish behind Kentucky Derby hopeful Hofburg in a March 3 maiden race at Gulfstream Park.

“Hopefully by the summer we’re going to have a really nice horse,” said Matz.

Gun Runner half-sis preps

Tap Gun, an unraced 3-year-old half-sister to 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, was sent through her first local breeze by trainer Tom Amoss, going a half-mile in 49.40 seconds Wednesday at Keeneland. The gray Tapit filly shows seven works at the GoldMark training center in Ocala, Fla., from mid-February through March 31.

Tap Gun was produced by Quiet Giant, also the dam of Gun Runner (by Candy Ride). She was a $1.4 million purchase by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale.

The Player doing well

The Player, the 5-year-old horse who underwent seven hours of surgery two days after suffering fractured sesamoids in the March 24 New Orleans Handicap, continues to recover at the Louisiana State University Equine Hospital, said trainer Buff Bradley.

“There’s no set date on when he’ll be sent home,” said Bradley. “We’re just taking it day by day. We’re hopeful.”

◗ Grade 1 winner Daddys Lil Darling breezed five furlongs in 1:02 Wednesday over a yielding Keeneland turf ahead of her next start. She will be a solid favorite in the closing-day feature, the Grade 3 Bewitch. The 1 1/2-mile turf race is the filly-mare counterpart to the Elkhorn.

Churchill starts its spring meet the following evening, April 28, with a Downs After Dark card featuring the $100,000 William Walker for 3-year-old sprinters.

◗ Rated R Superstar, a last-to-first winner of the Grade 3 Ben Ali here last Saturday, could make his next start in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special on May 18, said trainer Kenny McPeek.

“I still haven’t discussed it with the owners,” said McPeek. “He’s nominated to the Alysheba,” a 1 1/16-mile race on May 4 at Churchill, “but I’d prefer longer.”

◗ Jenn Patterson, who worked closely in recent years with such standouts as Orb and Wise Dan as an assistant and exercise rider for Shug McGaughey and Charlie LoPresti, has opened her own public stable and soon will have her first starter at Keeneland or Churchill. Patterson said Michael Dubb and Harry Rosenblum are among her initial clients.

◗ Storm Runner, seventh in the Florida Derby, has been turned out for a brief freshening, said Jeff Lowe, spokesman for the colt’s owner, Team Valor International. “We’ll probably look for something for him in July,” said Lowe.