Soutache eyes comeback in Hutcheson

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With only 11 3-year-olds nominated to Saturday’s $100,000 Hutcheson, the racing office will have its work cut out just getting the race to fill. It can, however, count on at least two names being in the box when entries are taken for the Grade 3 dash on Wednesday: Soutache, for trainer Ralph Nicks, and Impact Player, for Todd Pletcher.

If the six-furlong Hutcheson does go, Soutache will be making his first start since winning the final leg of the 2017 Florida Sire Stakes, the 1 1/16-mile In Reality, here on Sept. 30. Soutache won two of the three divisions of the series, dropping the opening leg when finishing third behind stablemate Phantom Ro in the six-furlong Dr. Fager. Soutache, a GoldMark Farm homebred by Backtalk, has trained forwardly for his return.

“He had a little setback after the In Reality, but he’s moving well, and his works have been good, so we’ll give it a whirl,” said Nicks. “Although I am a little concerned about whether the race will go.”

Impact Player will bring a modest two-race win streak into the Hutcheson, both victories coming since Pletcher added blinkers at the suggestion of jockey John Velazquez for the colt’s maiden win on Dec. 13. A son of City Zip, Impact Player followed that performance with a 7 1/2-length entry-level allowance tally five weeks later.

“Johnny felt strongly he needed blinkers after a couple of races, and they’ve seemed to help him focus in a lot better,” said Pletcher.

Soutache is one of only two stakes winners nominated to the Hutcheson, along with Tricks to Doo, who captured the Inaugural at Tampa Bay Downs before returning to finishing a tiring fourth behind Strike Power in the Grade 3 Swale here on Feb. 3.