Wild Shot could be poised for big effort in Mr. Prospector

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although he was on the Kentucky Derby trail last year as a 3-year-old, it would appear one-turn races might be the right niche for Wild Shot – one-turn races such as Saturday’s Grade 3 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park. The seven-furlong dash serves as the final graded stakes of the 2018 racing season in South Florida.

Wild Shot spent 15 months on the sidelines after finishing a troubled ninth in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga during the summer of 2017. He finally made it back to the races last month at Churchill Downs, finishing second in a seven-furlong allowance dash behind Grade 2 winner Copper Bullet, who was returning from a similar layoff.

“He never had any real serious problems, just two or three little setbacks after his race last year at Saratoga,” said Rusty Arnold, who trains the homebred Wild Shot for Calumet Farm. “We finally sent him home for a rest and then he wound up getting another little issue on the farm, so it took us a little longer than we thought to finally get him back.”

Wild Shot returned to Arnold’s barn right after he left Calumet in early September and has flourished ever since.

“I was really happy with his first race back,” said Arnold. “It was about as tough a second-level allowance race as you could come up with. He just got outrun by the winner, who is a really nice horse. He’s trained well ever since, so I’m expecting a big effort from him on Saturday.”

:: Want to get the latest news with your past performances? Try DRF’s new digital PPs

When the Mr. Prospector was drawn mid-afternoon on Wednesday, the weather forecast was calling for a chance of heavy rain on Thursday and into Friday.

“I wish it rains on Saturday, too,” said Arnold. “He won the Pat Day Mile over a sloppy track, so he’s good to go no matter the track condition.”

Brian Hernandez Jr., who hasn’t ridden Wild Shot since guiding him to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at 2, will have the mount back for the Mr. Prospector.

Another Mr. Prospector entrant who figures to receive plenty of attention is Heartwood, who comes into his 2018 finale off a second-place finish in Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Fall Highweight.

Heartwood has kept some pretty good company during the second half of the season, finishing sixth while beaten less than four lengths by Whitmore in the Grade 1, seven-furlong Forego at Saratoga, and fourth in the Grade 2 Phoenix at Keeneland.

“He’s just a consistent horse who is probably a little better at six furlongs than seven,” said trainer James Chapman, who also owns Heartwood with Stuart Tsujimoto. “But when you look at the number he got for his race at Saratoga, it was probably one of the best races he’s ever run.“

When Heartwood competes here Saturday, it will mark the seventh different track he has run at in his last seven starts.

“He really likes to be on a van,” said Chapman. “Shipping around doesn’t bother him at all. And if it rains like they’re saying, that should help, too, because he really likes the mud.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard Heartwood for the first time on Saturday.

The Mr. Prospector drew a field of 11 led by likely favorite Coal Front. Completing the lineup are Conquest Big E, Belle Tapisserie, Kroy, Sweetontheladies, K Choice, J. S. Choice, Uno Mas Modelo, and Storm Advisory.

◗ The prospect of rain in the coming days could play havoc with Friday’s $40,000 main event, an optional-claiming race for Florida-breds carded at a mile on the turf.

Blue Lute and Zap Daddy figure to vie for favoritism if the headliner goes as scheduled on the grass, although neither has ever raced on dirt and would likely scratch if the race is moved to the main track due. A course change would likely play in the favor of Chiseled, the lone main-track-only entrant in the field and a winner of a similarl event switched from turf to a sloppy main track here on Labor Day.