Two discover that grass is where it's at

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Pisgah and All Hail Stormy both had their form heading in the wrong direction when trainers Scott Lake and Allen Jerkens decided to put them on the turf Feb. 19. The strategy proved to be a wake up call for both horses - Pisgah finished first and All Hail Stormy finished second in the five-furlong allowance dash.

Pisgah and All Hail Stormy will renew acquaintances under similar conditions and figure to be the main players along with Summer Service in Wednesday's $46,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The race drew a field of eight, including All Hail Stormy's uncoupled stablemate, Smokume.

, sixth and eighth in two previous starts on the main track earlier in the meet, clipped heels and stumbled in the opening sixteenth when he made his turf debut on Feb. 19. But he was able to pick himself up and finish full of run to wear down the tiring leaders fora 1 3/4-length victory. The race provided Pisgah with enough of a confidence boost to return to the main track and finish second behind odds-on favorite Kelly's Landing in a high-priced optional claiming dash March 16.

Jerkens used a similar turf-to-dirt strategy to get back on the right track early in his career, switching him to the grass for the first time to win an overnight stakes at The Meadowlands in October 2004. The plan nearly worked to perfection again Feb. 19, when All Hail Stormy withstood a race-long pace duel before succumbing to Pisgah in deep stretch.

"He'd been terrible lately on the dirt, but he's a very honest horse on the turf," Jerkens said of All Hail Stormy, who may face early pace pressure on Wednesday from Love My Mountain.

, by Smoke Glacken out of Presume, has finished far back in all three starts since he won the Grade 2 Tom Fool Handicap at Belmont over a sloppy track in July.

"I'm experimenting with him, hoping he might like the turf," said Jerkens. "He's out of a Nijinsky mare, and the Smoke Glackens haven't been a complete bust with turf horses."

Summer Service comes into the race off a fifth-place finish in a strong field of grass sprinters in the Turf Dash Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on March 18. He figures to benefit from a fast pace and could be the horse to beat if he can run back to his come-from-behind neck victory in a five-furlong overnight stakes at Calder on Jan. 2.