Valiant Force getting season started on turf

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although the connections of Valiant Force are eager to see what their horse might accomplish on dirt, circumstances have dictated that the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up remain on grass for the time being. The colt will finally launch his 3-year-old campaign against six rivals going five furlongs on the turf, weather permitting, in Wednesday’s $91,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.

Valiant Force was moments away from making his main-track debut in the Limehouse Stakes here Jan. 6, only to be scratched as the prohibitive favorite following an incident at the starting gate. Valiant Force, who rallied from near the rear of the field to finish just a half-length shy of winning the Juvenile Turf Sprint three months earlier at Santa Anita, has trained extremely well over the main track on a regular basis since joining trainer Jorge Delgado’s barn shortly after the Breeders’ Cup.

“The original idea was to run him next on dirt,” Delgado said. “The first race [the Limehouse] was the right race for him, but unfortunately it did not work out. I needed to find a race he can win coming back. I can’t miss, because expectations are so high. That’s why we chose to bring him back at five furlongs on the turf rather than seven furlongs last weekend on dirt [in the Swale]. We’ve been trying to give him different situations working in the morning, put him inside, put him outside the other horse, and he’s handled everything very well.”

Valiant Force’s brilliant performance in the Breeders’ Cup isn’t the only noteworthy race on his résumé. The son of Malibu Moon, who is owned by Amo Racing, gained international notoriety last summer at Royal Ascot when upsetting the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at odds of 150-1.

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Trainer Wesley Ward, who sent out American Rascal to finish 13th in the Norfolk following a poor start, will take on Valiant Force once again in Wednesday’s main event with the lightly raced but very promising Hibernacle. The lone filly in the field, Hibernacle launched her career with a sensational 7 1/2-length maiden win going 4 1/2 furlongs on the main track last April at Keeneland. She has been sidelined ever since, but has had six works, including a bullet half-mile in 48.60 seconds at Payson Park last week, while prepping for her return.

“She’s had some issues, and we’re trying to put it all back together with her,” said Ward, who also owns and bred the daughter of Hootenanny. “I think her first start might have looked a lot better than it was. I thank Joel [Rosario] for that. He broke her in front, eased her back and outside, and when he turned her loose, off she went. I think going five furlongs on this turf course will help her a bunch because it’s so quick. But I have big, big respect for the favorite after watching him run last summer at Ascot and again in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Although Hibernacle won so impressively wearing blinkers at first asking, Ward will remove the shades Wednesday.

“I always take blinkers off my horses when they turn 3,” Ward explained. “I just think it kind of helps them to settle a little better.”

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Esperon, who was first across the wire under similar conditions over the turf in his 2-year-old finale only to lose the victory via stewards’ disqualification, looms the one to catch breaking from the rail for trainer David Braddy. He is among the other key contenders in a field that also includes impressive Tapeta maiden winners King Julien and Mackville along with Banneker and Reef Runner.

Yes I Am Free cruises

Any thoughts that the multiple graded stakes winner Yes I Am Free might have lost a step or two after turning 8 last month have been put on the back burner after the speedster turned in one of the most impressive performances of his career in Sunday’s nightcap. The gelding led every step of the way en route to a well-graded, two-length victory in a five-furlong allowance dash originally scheduled for turf but ultimately moved to the Tapeta following late morning showers.

The win snapped a five-race losing streak for Yes I Am Free and was his first win since capturing an overnight handicap on the grass here last April. Trained by Laura Cazares for Golden Kernel Racing Stable, Yes I Am Free has won the last two renewals of the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, a race that is no longer graded but that his connections will try to capture for a third straight year with Panther Island on Saturday.

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