U S Officer returns to route for Springboard Mile

The $300,000 Springboard Mile on Sunday at Remington Park is a chance for trainer Danny Pish to learn more about the distance preferences of the promising 2-year-old U S Officer. The horse already is a winner at the race’s one-mile distance but last month notched his most significant victory in a sprint stakes, the $100,000 Clever Trevor. That race served as the local prep for the Springboard.

Pish said the “jury is still out” as to whether U S Officer will prove to be at his best at sprint distances like the seven-furlong Clever Trevor or around two turns. The horse’s win at one mile came in a Remington allowance Oct. 14.

“Time will tell,” Pish said. “He certainly handled the two turns, on the same surface, at the same distance, well. I feel it’s likely that he’s better around two turns, but you don’t know. He doesn’t quite have the lick for six furlongs – he did quite well at seven. It all depends on how you look at it. His best career effort was at one turn, but he’s 1 for 1 at two turns.”

U S Officer is part of a 12-horse field for the Springboard, which anchors a closing-day card of five stakes worth a total of $600,000. The track is co-featuring 2-year-old fillies at a mile in the $100,000 Trapeze. There is a special first post of 3 p.m. Central. The Springboard will go as the 11th race on a card of 12 and will be part of an all-stakes pick four that starts in the ninth and has a minimum guaranteed pool of $30,000.

U S Officer is one of the most accomplished horses in the Springboard, thanks to his win in the Clever Trevor. He closed with a rush for a 2 1/2-length win under David Cabrera, who is 3 for 3 with the horse and has the mount Sunday from post 4.

Pish also will send out My Golden Aura, a maiden winner on dirt at Lone Star Park who is moving back to the main track after consecutive starts in turf-route stakes in September and October.

“We weren’t necessarily looking for the grass,” Pish said. “We were just looking for two turns. The horse has been training really good. I feel like he’s been an underachiever so far. We feel there’s still a lot of upside, a lot of potential, with this horse.”

Geovanni Franco has the mount from post 2.

Pish, who has winter divisions at Delta Downs, Fair Grounds, and Sam Houston, said both of the Springboard starters are at home at Remington.

“They both have been settled in there and have been training there pretty much the whole meet,” he said.

The Springboard also drew Cool Arrow, who earlier in the meet won the Kip Deville on the undercard of the Oklahoma Derby, and Hallelujah Hit, the winner of the Don C. McNeill Memorial at Remington. The race has a projected post of 7:45 p.m. Central.

McPeek runners shipping in for Sunday stakes

Trainer Ken McPeek will be active in both the Springboard and Trapeze with a pair of promising 2-year-olds. He said Wednesday that Young American, coming off a maiden special weight win at Churchill Downs, and Perfect Wife, a maiden winner at Keeneland, both would ship to Remington from his division at Oaklawn.

Young American will attract attention for his sweeping maiden win at 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 26. He darted clear by 2 1/4 lengths and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 74. Corey Lanerie was aboard, and his availability for Sunday’s race was one of the reasons Young American came under consideration for the Springboard, said McPeek.

“Corey knows him, knows how to time his run, and he really likes the horse,” said McPeek, adding that he will leave tactics up to Lanerie.

Perfect Wife will be making her two-turn debut after running a troubled fourth in an optional $75,000 claiming sprint Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs. One start prior, she won a maiden special weight sprint in her career debut Oct. 28.

“The filly’s done everything right,” McPeek said. “She’s just stalked and punched home when you needed her. I think she’s going to be four, five lengths better going a mile.”

McPeek last year sent out Dorodansa to finish second by a head in the Trapeze.

In addition to his Oaklawn division, McPeek has a winter division at Fair Grounds.

“It’s the first time I’ve been back to Fair Grounds, stabled there, in 20 years,” he said. “We needed a grass division.”

McPeek has long been a staple in Kentucky.

◗ Terra Promessa, a multiple graded stakes winner who made her most recent start in the Kentucky Oaks, is among 12 fillies and mares entered in the $100,000 She’s All In on Sunday at Remington. Others set to start in the race at a mile and 70 yards include Savings Account, the winner of the $200,000 Treasure Chest at Delta Downs.

Terra Promessa, who finished 10th in the Kentucky Oaks after winning four straight races, will break from post 6 under Richard Eramia.

◗ The stakes winners Apprehender, Imahit, and Z Rockstar will meet in Friday night’s allowance feature at Remington.