Turfway Park: Point Finish tries to show versatility in Forego

It is not uncommon to see horses head north from Gulfstream Park to race at Turfway in March around the time of the Spiral Stakes.

So with two last-out Gulfstream runners in Saturday’s $60,000 Forego Stakes at Turfway, it has the feel of an early spring race. Among the 12 horses in the body of the field, which also drew a pair of also-eligibles, are a duo that raced in the Dec. 7 Claiming Crown: Point Finish, a four-length winner of the Iron Horse, and Ghost Is Clear, second as the favorite in the Rapid Transit.

Although cutting back in distance for the Forego, a 6 1/2-furlong race on Turfway’s synthetic Polytrack surface, Point Finish appears to have the versatility to adapt. First or second in 11 of 12 starts last year while racing under a variety of conditions, he does most everything well.

“He can win on the dirt, turf, mud, Poly – from six furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth,” trainer George Leonard III said.

And he can win a lot of money. With his payday of $60,500 in the Iron Horse, he improved his earnings to more than $209,000 since owner Larry Morse and Leonard claimed him for $15,000 at Hoosier Park in October 2012.

Although yet to win an open stakes race, the Forego appears a good opportunity for him to do so, with Point Finish having a record of 2 wins and 2 seconds in 4 starts at Turfway, his home track.

Jockey Dean Sarvis, who regularly breezes Point Finish, will be aboard him for the first time in a race Saturday.

Ghost Is Clear, like Point Finish, has proven a highly successful claim, earning more than $190,000 for owner and trainer Mike Maker since being claimed for $10,000 in November 2012.

Saturday’s Forego marks the first time he has raced at Turfway since March 2011, when he won the Hansel Stakes on the Spiral undercard.

Other notable Forego entrants include last-out stakes runner-up finishers Jasizzle and Stormy Going, and a pair of comebacking stakes winners in Mac the Man and I’m Boundtoscore.