Visitant poised to win third straight race in Forego
Visitant returned to Turfway Park this winter and picked up right where he left off. He looks for his third straight victory at his favorite track as he looms a big favorite in the $125,000 Forego Stakes for older sprinters, the Saturday night feature in Florence, Ky.
Visitant, a 7-year-old Ghostzapper horse who runs as a homebred for Williamson Racing, has won 11 of 19 career starts, highlighted by strong seasons at Turfway, where he owns four stakes wins, all for trainer Bill Morey. In the winter of 2020-21, as Turfway’s current Tapeta surface debuted, Visitant won 3 of 4 outings at the track, highlighted by the Kentucky Cup Classic. During the 2021-22 season, Visitant won three of his four Turfway starts, including the Forego and the Big Daddy Stakes, and he was second in the Kentucky Cup Classic.
Following the end of that Turfway meet, Visitant was turned out, returning to the work tab in October in Kentucky. He returned to the races in an allowance/optional-claiming race on Dec. 16 at Turfway, winning his first start in more than eight months by 3 1/4 lengths. He then was a four-length winner of the Holiday Cheer Stakes on Jan. 1. In both of those races, he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 102; he is the only entrant who sports triple-digit figures on the past performances.
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Regular rider Gerardo Corrales keeps the mount on Visitant, who is drawn outside in this field of nine for the 6 1/2-furlong tilt – a distance at which he is unbeaten. From the outside, Visitant, who has shown his class with multiple graded stakes placings, is well-positioned to work out his usual stalking trip. He also has shown the ability to step forward and control the tempo of a race if pace does not develop.
Night Time is drawn just inside the favorite with Chris Landeros in the irons for trainer Dale Romans. He was second to Visitant in the December allowance/optional claimer, then came back to win at a similar level with an impressive performance on Jan. 18. Night Time had a troubled trip, blocked and forced six wide for room. He rallied from seventh to win by a length, the margin not communicating the strength of his effort. He earned a Beyer of 96, the highest last-out figure behind Visitant.
Here Mi Song and Pole Setter were both stakes-placed behind Visitant in 2022 at Turfway. Here Mi Song is coming off a fourth-place finish, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, after being bothered at the start of the Prairie Bayou Stakes in December at Turfway. The victor was Grade 1 winner In Love.
Gallant Guy is stepping up for the Forego off an allowance win last month at Turfway. Candy Overload is moving between synthetic surfaces after a campaign at Woodbine in which he was graded stakes-placed last August. Bandit Swanson, Be Here, and the maiden Midnight Escape complete the field.
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