Trophy Chaser ready to go off eight-month layoff

After Trophy Chaser turned in several big efforts to open his career, owner-trainer Juan Avila had every right to feel optimistic about the colt’s future.

But shortly after finishing a just-miss second in the Jan. 5 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park, the flashy son of Twirling Candy had to be sidelined with a quarter crack.

“We had to send him to the farm for 30 days,” Avila said this week through an interpreter. “We gave him the time he needed, and he has come back very good. He has been working steadily, and he looks ready for a big effort.”

Nearly eight months since his last race, Trophy Chaser will make his long-awaited return to action as the heavy favorite in the Friday feature at Gulfstream in South Florida. With Emisael Jaramillo to ride, Trophy Chaser will face five other 3-year-olds and up in the lone allowance (race 6) on a card that starts at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. The $47,000 first-level race goes at seven furlongs.

Trophy Chaser lit up the national radar last August by earning a 96 Beyer Speed Figure in winning a six-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream by 15 3/4 lengths. He went on to prove the effort was no fluke when he finished second to subsequent Grade 1 winner Improbable on Breeders’ Cup weekend at Churchill Downs in his final start at 2, earning an 81 Beyer, then running second to Mihos in the Mucho Macho Man (90 Beyer) in his 3-year-old debut.

Since late June, Trophy Chaser has had nine workouts at Gulfstream toward his Friday return, with the latest being a five-furlong breeze Saturday in 1:02.60.

Among the more capable rivals trying to foil the Trophy Chaser comeback are Glory of Florida, a sharp two-back winner with an 88 Beyer, and Baby I’m Perfect, a close second as the favorite at this level earlier this month.

The feature is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 4-9), which had a jackpot carryover of $934,782 into Thursday.

A chance of thundershowers and a high of 86 are in the local forecast for Friday, when all odd-numbered races are scheduled for the grass course.

One of the biggest days of the three-month summer meet is set for Saturday. Four stakes, including the second legs in the Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds – the $200,000 Affirmed and $200,000 Susan’s Girl – serve as highlights of an extended weekend. Racing will be held Monday at Gulfstream because of the Labor Day holiday.

Stakes get bonus bump

Gulfstream has announced that the Monroe Stakes and Hollywood Beach Stakes on Sept. 28 both will offer $25,000 bonuses for eligible Florida-sired horses, bringing total purses for each race to $100,000. They’re part of a huge card set for the final Saturday of the summer meet, with the $400,000 In Reality, the $400,000 My Dear Girl, and the $150,000 Wildcat Heir also to be run that day.