Stakes-winning sprinter Following Sea nears return

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although trainer Todd Pletcher shipped a large contingent of his powerhouse stable north earlier this week, he left some of his stars behind for the time being. Among them is Following Sea, who has been idle since finishing a game second to stablemate Americanrevolution in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct 16 months earlier.

Following Sea gave every indication he is nearing his much anticipated return after breezing five furlongs in 1:02.40 seconds here Tuesday in company with Iron Works. Following Sea punctuated the move with an eye-catching gallop-out around the turn before pulling up after a full mile in 1:41.41. The work was the seventh since Feb. 13 and second since shipping locally for Following Sea, who had spent the majority of the winter at Pletcher’s main base, the Palm Beach Downs training center in Delray, Fla.

Following Sea contested all the pace before succumbing to the late-running Americanrevolution to drop a half-length decision in the Cigar Mile. The outstanding performance capped a superb three-race sequence for Following Sea, which began with a 4 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 2 Vosburgh and included a troubled third-place finish behind Aloha West and Dr. Schivel in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint four weeks later.

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Following Sea, a son of Runhappy, began his career with trainer Bob Baffert before being transferred to Pletcher by his owner-breeder, Spendthrift Farm, during the spring of his 3-year-old campaign.

"Had ankle surgery, some complications coming back from that, then a splint - a few minor things that accumulated into a lot of time off," Pletcher explained. "He's a very talented horse and hopefully back on course. He probably still needs a couple of more works and we haven’t pinpointed a spot to bring him back in just yet."

Maiden races challenge bettors

With no allowance races carded here Friday, maidens will take the spotlight with a trio of intriguing special weight events on the docket. Race 1 is for 2-year-olds on the main track, race 3 is for fillies and mares over the main track, and race 6 is for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on the turf.

Friday’s juvenile dash brings back virtually the same field entered under similar conditions a week ago when the card was canceled because of extremely wet conditions. The exception is the George Weaver-trained Twisted Filigree, who is well drawn for his debut in post 8.

Twisted Filigree is a son of Distorted Humor who brought $125,000 at the Saratoga August yearling sale. He is the first foal to make the races out of the mare Saturn Lace, whose nine starts all came on grass. She won twice, at six and seven furlongs, both in Great Britain.

There are two fillies in the field, including the Wesley Ward-trained Quiver of Fear, who had only two slow three-furlong breezes on her résumé when the race was originally drawn nearly two weeks ago. She has been able to add two more works since that time, including a bullet three furlongs in 36.80 last Saturday at Payson Park. Quiver of Fear’s full brother Insanity It Seems won his only start in gate-to-wire fashion for Ward last summer on the grass at Monmouth Park.

Reaper might be the best bred entrant for early success on dirt. Reaper, an Arindel homebred, is the brother of stakes winners Bernie the Maestro and Richard the Great as well as Turbo, who captured his career debut going 5 1/2 furlongs here last June and later in the season won a Florida-bred stakes.

Pletcher will send out first-time starter Party Favor against six other fillies in the third race, to be run at six furlongs. The daughter of Practical Joke was a $520,000 yearling purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September sale and has kept good company of late in the morning at Palm Beach Downs, having worked with Spansive, a gate-to-wire winner of her only start, a one-mile race on the grass.

Also in the field are the experienced runners Teasing and She’s Awesome, along with the Danny Gargan-trained first-time starter Vita de Vito.

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