Tango Tango Tango brings Grade 1 credentials into allowance
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – What on paper would appear to be a nondescript entry-level optional-claiming and allowance race Sunday at Gulfstream Park could prove noteworthy with the Grade 1-placed Tango Tango Tango among the eight horses entered to go about 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass for a $61,000 purse.
Tango Tango Tango gained national attention last summer at Arlington Park by winning his maiden in the American Derby. He proved that performance was no fluke four weeks later when he finished a game second behind 8-5 favorite Point Me By after contesting much of the pace in the Grade 1 Bruce D. Stakes, a race formerly known as the Secretariat Stakes.
Trained by Jack Sisterson, Tango Tango Tango comes into Sunday’s main event idle since ending his 3-year-old campaign finishing seventh after contesting the early pace for more than a mile in the 12-furlong Jockey Club Derby Invitational on Sept. 18 at Belmont Park.
“He had a productive summer for us last year,” Sisterson said. “He got exposed there a little at Belmont. He wasn’t really that caliber of horse at that time. He’s a lighter-framed horse, so we thought coming to end of year, why push him? So we gave him a little break and are looking forward to getting him back going on Sunday. I don’t usually push my horses coming off a layoff, but he has trained really well. He’s very forward in his gallops, which tells me he could be fitter than most and capable of winning right off the bat.”
Tango Tango Tango wore blinkers in both the American Derby and Bruce D., but not under Flavien Prat in the Jockey Club Derby. He will have blinkers back on again for his 2022 debut.
“I took the blinkers off for the race at Belmont because he was going a mile and one-half and thought it might help him relax,” Sisterson explained. “But Flavien told me after the race he was looking all over the place, which is why he has them back on again Sunday.”
Alley Oop Johnny has been a popular item at the claim box dating back to early December and is the only member of the field running with the optional claiming price tag of $25,000 on his head. He sports the highest last-out Beyer Speed Figure in the lineup, an 84 earned for a win against mid-priced conditioned claimers here earlier this month. Alley Oop Johnny was haltered for $20,000 out of that race and could prove the controlling speed in this spot.