Surface switch likely for Home of the Brave Handicap

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – As if going 1 1/2 miles wasn’t foreign enough for most of the 13 horses in Saturday’s $60,000 Home of the Brave Handicap at Gulfstream Park, along comes a second and perhaps even more imposing obstacle – the prospect of rain forcing the race from the turf to a sloppy main track.

The Home of the Brave is restricted to horses who have run for a claiming price. Only three entrants have ever raced as far as 12 furlongs, and nine have never won on dirt.

Conquest Sandman will be the highweight under 123 pounds if he runs. The consistent son of Scat Daddy is strictly a turf specialist, having captured five of his last seven starts on grass. He is 4 for 6, including a win in the Miesque’s Approval Stakes, since being haltered by his present connections for $16,000 here Feb. 10, but he finished last and lost by more than 40 lengths against maiden special weight opposition in his only previous start over the main track here two years ago.

If he starts, Conquest Sandman would have to concede as much as 12 pounds over the grueling distance to his competition, but only two pounds to Durocher, who won the Tropical Park Derby here in his 3-year-old finale but finished a wide-running eighth, nearly 15 lengths behind Conquest Sandman, in the Miesque’s Approval.

Durocher did turn in a creditable effort when stretching out to 1 1/2 miles for the first time this past winter in the Grade 3 McKnight Handicap, finishing seventh but only 4 1/2 lengths behind the winner, Oscar Nominated. Durocher was not a factor in his only start on dirt.

“This looked like a very good spot for him and a nice springboard for the rest of the summer, but he’s strictly a turf horse, and we want to do what’s right by the horse, so we’ll scratch him if the race comes off the grass, as I expect it will,” trainer Alan Benson said. “We felt really good about the distance because he ran so well in the McKnight. He wasn’t beaten very far by much better horses despite getting stopped badly near the quarter pole.”

Among the trainers hoping for a surface switch is Aubrey Maragh, whose red-hot Manolete was entered for the main track only and likely would be favored on dirt. Manolete was claimed for $12,500 out of a win April 6 and already has rewarded his new connections with a win and a second-place finish in two subsequent starts. The distance is a question mark since Manolete has never competed beyond 1 1/16 miles in 21 lifetime starts.

The 12-furlong distance and running on turf also could prove problematic for the lightly raced but promising Bold Daddy, who has never raced beyond 1 1/16 miles but has won three of his last four outings here for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Bingo Kitten has run and run well going 1 1/2 miles, finishing second twice and third in three tries at the distance, although he, too, has limited experience on dirt. The 8-year-old veteran is the oldest member of the field and will seek to snap a seven-race losing skid.

:: Save 20% on PPs, digital paper subscriptions, and more with DRF's Memorial Day sale!