Top Billing begins comeback in allowance route
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A year ago, Top Billing looked like one of the elite members of what turned out to be a stellar crop of 3-year-olds, but his campaign was short-circuited by a cannon-bone fracture that sent him to the sidelines.
On Sunday at Gulfstream Park, exactly one year since his last start, Top Billing finally gets back to the races in an optional $75,000 claiming race in which he can use his second-level allowance condition.
The 1 1/16-mile race, the 10th on a 12-race card, is “just a starting point,” trainer Shug McGaughey said, but there’s no doubt McGaughey believes Top Billing has a chance, at age 4, to reach the level at which he hinted last spring.
“I thought he was the nuts last year,” McGaughey said. “He ran a remarkable race in the Fountain of Youth. And then the first work after that race, he got hurt.”
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Top Billing came into the Fountain of Youth with two wins in three starts, including a first-level allowance win at Gulfstream. He was favored over 11 rivals in the Fountain of Youth but fell back to last early, a spot that severely compromised his chances over a track that had a pronounced speed bias that day. He still rallied to finish third, beaten just two lengths, while making up nearly five lengths in the final quarter-mile.
Top Billing then hurt his right front leg in a workout. He needed screws and a plate to fuse the injury, and much time to heal. He has been working regularly at Payson Park, the training center where McGaughey keeps many of his best horses during the winter in Florida.
“He’s doing really well,” McGaughey said.
KEY CONTENDERS
Top Billing (Last 3 Beyers: 97-90-91)
◗ Even though he has been off for a long time, he has shown the ability to fire fresh, having captured his debut going six furlongs, a distance well short of ideal.
◗ McGaughey worked him on turf one time at Payson and said he even thought of entering Top Billing in a grass race earlier at this meet as a main-track-only runner, “but I didn’t want to tip my hand” that Top Billing was ready to return.
Ghareeb (Last 3 Beyers: 105-68-57)
◗ Got a freakishly fast figure in his first start at Gulfstream on Jan. 19 when crushing a first-level allowance field by six lengths in a one-turn mile in his first start for trainer George Weaver. Prior to that, he was 1 for 12, with a career-best Beyer of 86.
Encryption (Last 3 Beyers: 89-97-84)
◗ He has been idle since winning a first-level allowance at Belmont in a one-turn mile Oct. 20. This will be his first two-turn race since finishing eighth of nine in the Haskell Invitational, but he did finish in the money, with one win, in his other three two-turn races on dirt.