Turfway Park: Tamarando made 3-1 favorite for Spiral Stakes

CINCINNATI – Tamarando was pegged as the 3-1 morning-line favorite after being assigned post 4 in a full field of 12 for the Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes, the annual Turfway Park signature event, set for Saturday in Florence, Ky.

The Spiral, currently sponsored by Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati but sponsored by a variety of other entities since its 1972 inception, offers 85 points toward eligibility to the Kentucky Derby, including 50 to the winner.

Russell Baze will be in to ride Tamarando for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, like Baze a Hall of Famer and Northern Californian. Tamarando, a California-bred colt by Bertrando, has been very consistent in his 10 career races and comes off a last-to-first triumph in the Feb. 15 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

From the rail and with jockeys, this is the field for the 43rd Spiral, which goes at 1 1/8 miles on Polytrack: Big Bazinga, Luis Contreras; Asserting Bear, Joe Rocco Jr.; Poker Player, Channing Hill; Tamarando, Baze; Coastline, Stewart Elliott; Smart Cover, Corey Lanerie; All Tied Up, Luis Saez; Solitary Ranger, Florent Geroux; Almost Famous, Calvin Borel; Harry’s Holiday, Rosie Napravnik; We Miss Artie, John Velazquez; and Arctic Slope, Albin Jiminez.

We Miss Artie, trained by Todd Pletcher, is listed as the 4-1 second choice on the Turfway line, followed by Poker Player (5-1), Solitary Ranger (6-1), and Almost Famous (6-1).

Several horses, including Tourist and Z Lucky, were withdrawn from the entry box when it became apparent they would not make the 12-horse cutoff.

One Spiral starter who surely would become a major human-interest story if he can earn enough Derby points Saturday is Big Bazinga, whose trainer is Katerina Vassilieva, a Russian-born, Canadian-based 31-year-old with 20 wins in a career that started in 2011.

Big Bazinga, a Kentucky-bred gelding by Bluegrass Cat, most recently ran second to Divine Oath in a Feb. 22 turf allowance at Gulfstream Park.

“He’s coming off an excellent race,” said Vassilieva, the lone trainer on hand at the post-position draw Wednesday. “He’s been racing and training all winter in Florida, and he’s very fit. I’m excited to see him run.”

The draw was held for the second straight year at Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, located some 20 minutes north of the track across the Ohio state line.

First post Saturday is 1:10 p.m. Eastern, with the Spiral, the 11th of 12 races, set for 6:28. TVG will have onsite coverage throughout the day. The extended forecast calls for a high temperature of 52.

Admission normally is free at Turfway but is $10 on Saturday.

◗ Baze and Hollendorfer also figure prominently in the other Grade 3 race on the Saturday card, the $125,000 Bourbonette Oaks (race 10, 5:42), with Swiss Lake Yodeler, third as the favorite in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita last out. A full field of 12 3-year-old fillies was entered in the one-mile Bourbonette, with Sloane Square the 3-1 program favorite.

One other secondary feature is the $50,000 Hansen (race 9), a starter handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs.

◗ Conspicuous by its absence from the Spiral card is the Rushaway Stakes, which will not be run for the first time since its 1986 inaugural. Winners of the Rushaway include Yankee Victor (1999), Brass Hat (2004), High Cotton (2006), and Dominican (2007). Turfway director of racing Tyler Picklesimer said there was not enough purse or sponsor money for the Rushaway.

◗ Turfway mostly has run a twice-a-week schedule in March but will run three days on its final weekend (March 28-30) after opting to run on the final Sunday of the month. The track held racing on the first Sunday of the month (March 2) but chose not to run any Sundays in between.

Keeneland starts its 15-day spring meet April 4.

◗ Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux will be represented by agent Jose Santos Jr. at the upcoming Keeneland meet. Santos is the son of the retired jockey.

◗ As usual, the Spiral coincides with NCAA tournament action, and local sports fans may find themselves conflicted Saturday between betting horses and watching basketball.

Teams of local interest that could be playing Saturday after opening-round Thursday games include Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio State, and Louisville. Kentucky plays its first game Friday and would not advance until Sunday, while Xavier was eliminated in a play-in game Tuesday.

◗ The end of the Turfway meet will coincide with the end of more than 40 years in racing for Jack Valentine, who has called and compiled race charts for Daily Racing Form and Equibase since his first job in 1973 at Commodore Downs in Erie, Pa. Valentine is retiring.