Well Defined returns in Carry Back

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For many fans, the most recognizable name on Saturday’s 14-race Summit of Speed program may not be in the two graded stakes on the program, the Princess Rooney and the Smile Sprint, but in the $75,000 Carry Back when Well Defined returns to action in the seven-furlong fixture for 3-year-olds.

Well Defined was last sighted on the Kentucky Derby trail finishing eighth behind winner Tacitus after chasing the early pace in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 9. Well Defined had jumped into the national spotlight – and into the Kentucky Derby picture – four weeks earlier with his wire-to-wire 2 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa.

Well Defined was arguably the top 2-year-old on the grounds here in 2018 following his 7 1/2-length triumph over archrival Garter and Tie in the 1 1/16-mile In Reality Stakes.

“He came out of the Tampa Derby with a little bit of a torn muscle in his back, which I’m sure he did when rearing up and nearly falling over while walking around the paddock prior to the race,” said Kathleen O’Connell, who trains the homebred Well Defined for owner Gil Campbell’s Stonehedge Farm. “So we gave him a month on the farm and he’s been training extremely well preparing for his return.”

The Carry Back will be only the second time Well Defined has raced at seven furlongs. He finished second at the distance in the Affirmed division of the Florida Sire Series here last September, narrowly defeated by Garter and Tie.

“He’s doing awesome, and I think starting him back at seven furlongs is the right thing since he’s so sharp right now,” said O’Connell. “He’d probably try to do too much too early if we brought him back around two turns.” Luis Saez is lined up for the riding assignment.

The Carry Back was expected to feature a rematch between Well Defined and Garter and Tie, but Garter and Tie will instead race against older horses in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint later on the card. That leaves a field of eight for the Carry Back, which includes stakes winners Seismic Jolt and Jackson.

Seismic Jolt finished a distant second behind Garter and Tie returning from a four-month vacation in the Ocala Stakes. Trained by David Fawkes, Seismic Jolt won the restricted Limehouse Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths in his 3-year-old debut on Jan. 5.

Jackson has won a trio of Florida-bred stakes, including the seven-furlong Sophomore this past spring at Tampa Bay Downs.

The $75,000 Azalea, filly counterpart to the Carry Back, lured a field of nine, with the Fawkes-trained Lovesick likely to be favored off her 1 3/4-length decision in the Liza Jane Stakes on May 31. The win was the third in four career starts for Lovesick, whose lone setback came following a slow start and over a sloppy track in Tampa’s Sandpiper Stakes in her 2-year-old finale.

Calinas Song and Just Ain’t Right, second and third in the Liza Jane, will try their luck against Lovesick once again on Saturday. The well-matched field also includes the two-time stakes winner Itsmyluckycharm and the O’Connell-trained multiple stakes-placed Blazing Brooke, who starts for the first time since sustaining an injury closing out her juvenile season last fall in a turf stakes at Gulfstream Park West.

Old pro Pay Any Price will be favored to win the $75,000 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint Stakes for the third consecutive time when he faces just five rivals in the five-furlong turf fixture.

The 9-year-old Pay Any Price won the Umphrey by 3 1/4 lengths two years ago and by 1 1/4 lengths after opening a commanding advantage at midstretch last summer. Pay Any Price figures to receive a stiff challenge from Mr French while looking for the three-peat on Saturday. Pay Any Price was all out to withstand a final rally from that rival to post a half-length decision in the Crystal River Stakes four weeks ago.

The most intriguing member of the Umphrey field is Ghoul, a Group 2 turf sprint stakes winner in his native Brazil, who brings a four-race win streak into his U.S. debut. He is trained by Mark Casse.