Strike Charmer ready to fly after easy work
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Approximately 20 horses worked over the Gulfstream Park main track on a quiet Monday morning while saving the best for last, Grade 2 winner Strike Charmer, who breezed an easy half-mile in 50.53 seconds with trainer Mark Hennig looking on.
Strike Charmer is one of a half-dozen horses Hennig recently shipped to Florida from his Belmont Park base, the first wave of what will wind up being a string of 20-25 runners for the winter Championship Meet, which begins Dec. 3.
Strike Charmer provided Hennig with his most important win of the season when she rallied to upset the previously undefeated Lady Eli in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa on Aug. 27 at Saratoga.
“This was the first time I’ve breezed her on the dirt in a while, and I just wanted to go easy with her this morning,” said Hennig, who flew back to New York shortly after the work. “Right now, we’re planning on taking her to Del Mar for the Matriarch as long as we can get out of Florida, and this was just a little maintenance work to help get her there. She ran twice in October and will be turning back to a mile, so she’s plenty fit.”
Hennig’s main concern is whether he’ll be able to ship Strike Charmer from Gulfstream to Del Mar for the Grade 1 Matriarch on Dec. 4. A barn at Gulfstream is under quarantine until at least Nov. 21 because a horse who died tested positive for equine herpesvirus.
“Hopefully, the quarantine will be lifted in time,” Hennig said. “Other tracks usually don’t let you in if there’s a situation like this at the track you’re stabled at. This would likely be her last shot at a Grade 1. We made the decision after the Flower Bowl that we didn’t want to go a mile and one-quarter on that turf course at Santa Anita in the Breeders’ Cup, so this was the direction we chose to go.”
Hennig said he’s nominated Strike Charmer for the Grade 3 My Charmer at Gulfstream Park West on Nov. 26 as a backup.
Hennig also is looking forward to getting his top 2-year-old prospect Capitaine down to Florida for the winter. The son of Tapit is coming off a third-place finish after stumbling badly at the start as the prohibitive favorite in the Grade 2 Nashua at Aqueduct on Nov. 4.
“It was the first day of the meet, the track wasn’t getting a whole lot of water, speed was holding, and he looked like the lone speed, only to wind up last after the start,” Hennig said. “It certainly was frustrating, but fortunately he came out of it well. He actually stumbled more than once, and I was worried it might have some residual effects, but he seems to be doing fine.”
Hennig said he planned to pass the Remsen on Nov. 26 at Aqueduct with Capitaine, who’ll likely have one more work in New York before shipping locally for the winter.
“If all goes well, there’s an outside chance we could run him here in the Smooth Air on Dec. 10th,” he said.
Compelled impresses
Mr. Jordan, who set a course record for 1 1/16 miles winning the Sunshine Millions Classic Preview, was the No. 1 star on Saturday’s Sunshine Millions Preview card at Gulfstream Park West. But there were several other notable performances that day, not the least of which was the 6 1/2-length triumph by the 2-year-old filly Compelled in the Juvenile Filly Turf.
Compelled, a homebred daughter of War Front trained by Tom Proctor for Glen Hill Farm, was the easiest kind of winner Saturday in her stakes debut. She completed a mile on grass in 1:38.47, more than a full second faster than the unbeaten Squadron covered the same distance winning the Juvenile Turf Stakes earlier on the card. Compelled earned a career-best 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
Glen Hill also bred the winner of the Millions Turf Preview, Enterprising, who rallied to a 1 1/4-length victory over Little Nick V for trainer Mike Maker and the Maxis Stable. Enterprising, a 5-year-old gelding by Elusive Quality, won multiple stakes with Proctor earlier in his career.
◗ There will be a carryover of $40,214 in the Rainbow 6 pool when racing resumes Wednesday with a 10-race program at Gulfstream Park West.