Strong work puts Chase Tracker in Southwest Stakes

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Chase Tracker has put himself in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest Stakes on Monday at Oaklawn Park after a strong recent workout, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.

The Southwest carries qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, with the first four finishers to earn points on a scale of 10-4-2-1. The race also anchors a card of three Grade 3 stakes, the others the $500,000 Razorback Handicap and the $200,000 Bayakoa.

Chase Tracker, who in his last start was third in the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct, worked five-eighths in 1:01 on Sunday. The move came at his Palm Beach Downs training center base in South Florida.

“He breezed so well,” Pletcher said. “We were uncommitted to a spot, keeping all our options open. We really liked the way he went.”

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Chase Tracker was to fly to Arkansas on Tuesday. Pletcher said John Velazquez has the mount in the Southwest.

Chase Tracker won his career debut in a maiden special weight over seven furlongs Sept. 21 at Parx Racing. He then was third in the Grade 3 Nashua at Aqueduct, a Nov. 3 stakes won by the well-regarded Independence Hall. Chase Tracker proceeded to close out his season in the Remsen, finishing 4 1/4 lengths behind Shotski on Dec. 7.

Chase Tracker is a son of Verrazano who races for St. Elias Stable, which won the 2017 Kentucky Derby as a co-owner of Always Dreaming. Velazquez was aboard that day for Pletcher.

The draw for the Southwest, which will be run over a mile and a sixteenth, is Friday. Other potential starters include Gold Street, winner of the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn; Shoplifted and Answer In, the one-two finishers in the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park; Silver Prospector, winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs; and maiden winners American Butterfly and Villainous.

The long-range forecast for Monday is for a high of 65 degrees and a 50 percent chance of showers, according to The Weather Channel.