Strike Power, Recruiting Ready to meet again in Vanderbilt

ELMONT, N.Y. – Strike Power and Recruiting Ready, virtually inseparable from the three-eighths pole to the wire when finishing second and third behind Catalina Cruiser in the Grade 2 True North Stakes on June 7, are both being pointed to the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 27 at Saratoga.

Strike Power set the early pace in the True North. He was stalked early and then joined at the three-eighths pole by Recruiting Ready. While those two duked it out through the lane, both were passed by Catalina Cruiser, who won by a half-length. Strike Power finished a nose in front of Recruiting Ready for second.

Mark Hennig, the trainer of Strike Power, was quite pleased with his colt’s performance. Strike Power had undergone throat surgery during his time off from last August until his return to the races at Gulfstream in April. In his return, Strike Power won convincingly while not being tested. In the True North, Strike Power was sternly tested.

“Certainly, when that horse came to him so early, it was a good test of the throat,” Hennig said. “He was certainly getting enough air to fight off Recruiting Ready. Too bad it wasn’t three-quarters.”

The Vanderbilt is run at three-quarters of a mile.

Trainer Stanley Hough said Recruiting Ready missed some time after stumbling at the start of the Runhappy Stakes here May 11 and grabbing a quarter.

“I didn’t think I was going to make the True North,” Hough said. “He started doing well and ran very hard. It didn’t help him missing that much time.”

Recruiting Ready returned to Churchill Downs on Tuesday. He will likely be part of a 16-horse contingent Hough plans to have at Saratoga this summer.