Zamquick fresh for Thursday turf sprint
Zamquick and her $53 win mutuel were a great surprise for owner Mandy Pope and trainer Eddie Kenneally at Saratoga last summer, but that’s old news. The 6-year-old mare will be looking to make new memories Thursday at Gulfstream Park in the only allowance of the day, a five-furlong turf sprint.
Based at the Palm Meadows training center with the Irish-born Kenneally, Zamquick will break from post 1 as part of the field of 12 fillies and mares in the eighth of 10 races at the south Florida track. Corey Lanerie has the call in the $50,000 race, which carries a second-level allowance restriction with a $62,500 claiming option.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Zamquick. Trainer Eddie Kenneally is 28-1-6-7 with a $0.38 ROI over the past five years in turf sprints after a layoff of between 61 and 180 days. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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With just one start since her nose victory on the final weekend of the Saratoga meet, Zamquick “is nice and fresh, which is good, because she runs well fresh,” Kenneally said. “I’m very happy with the way she’s training. She has a good post and should be very competitive.”
Indian Splendor, Kiama, and Claiming Victory are among the other contenders in a well-matched race. Thirteen fillies and mares are entered, with one filly, Liza Doolittle Day, eligible to run on the main track only. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern, with the eighth race set for 4:03.
KEY CONTENDERS
Zamquick (Last 3 Beyers: 76-81-74)
◗ Her lone attempt since the Saratoga upset resulted in a solid third-place finish for this same condition in October at Keeneland.
◗ She has had five Palm Meadows works since then.
Indian Splendor (Last 3 Beyers: 81-81-85)
◗ Speedy Florida-bred mare has gone unraced for nearly three months, meaning she’ll likely be showing even more early foot than usual.
◗ She has already cleared this second allowance condition and is one of four entered for the $62,500 tag.
Kiama (Last 3 Beyers: 72-69-85)
◗ Haltered last month at Gulfstream by Jeremiah Englehart, who shows a 26 percent strike rate first race off the claim.
◗ She’ll turn back from a two-turn race to a sprint, returning to her comfort zone.
◗ She won in Canada this summer in this same type of race when entered for the tag, which is why she is still eligible for the allowance restriction.
Claiming Victory (Last 3 Beyers: 21-81-83)
◗ She switched from turf to the dirt while stretching out in a rugged renewal of the Claiming Crown Glass Slipper last month, and ran last of 13.
◗ S he comes favorably drawn in an outside post and returns to her best surface.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Runway Giant. Trainer Ian Wilkes is 30-2-3-5 with a $0.37 ROI over the past five years in turf sprints at Gulfstream. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Malibu Holiday. Trainer Bill Hefner is 7-3-0-1 with a $10.54 ROI over the past two years going route to sprint on turf. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan