Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
GULFSTREAM Heart to Heart possible for Maker’s 46 Mile
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Twenty-four hours after Heart to Heart finally broke through with his first Grade 1 victory – a hard-fought neck decision over Kurilov in the nine-furlong Gulfstream Park Turf on Saturday – trainer Brian Lynch was still a little choked up when asked to reflect on the achievement.
“I was absolutely in awe of it,” Lynch said. “He’s a horse who has tried so hard, all the time, come close so many times, and for him to finally get it done was very gratifying to see. He’s got such a big following, too. The response from the public was enormous. My phone has just blown up ever since the race, a lot of the numbers I didn’t even know.”
With Julien Leparoux back aboard following an eventful trip four weeks earlier as the odds-on favorite in the Fort Lauderdale, Heart to Heart took up his familiar spot on the lead shortly after the start of the Gulfstream Park Turf, shook free from One Go All Go turning for home, then dug in and had enough left to withstand a final surge from the multiple Group 1 winner Kurilov.
The victory was the 14th for the 7-year-old Heart to Heart, owned by Terry Hamilton, and came in his eighth try against Grade 1 competition. Last season, the son of English Channel had several near-misses in Grade 1 events, including a second, beaten a half-length, in the Shadwell Turf Mile; a second, beaten a neck, in the Maker’s 46 Mile; and a third, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Shoemaker Mile. He also won the Grade 3 Canadian Turf here and the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch at Saratoga.
Heart to Heart received a 102 Beyer Speed Figure for the Gulfstream Turf.
“He’s 7 now, but he’s far from done,” Lynch said. “He came out of the race well, got in a little round-pen time this morning at Palm Meadows, and will take it easy for a while before we look for the next spot.”
Lynch said Heart to Heart will be nominated to the Maker’s 46 Mile, to be run April 13 at Keeneland, a race he’s finished second in each of the last two years.
“If it looks like there’s not a lot of speed in the race, he’ll run there,” Lynch said. “If not, I’ll wait for the Woodford Reserve at Churchill on Derby Day. I’ll probably look to run him in longer races when I can this year because it gives him more of a chance to get a breather on the lead. And when he gets a breather, like he did yesterday, that’s when he’s the most dangerous.”
Trainer Chad Brown was proud of Kurilov in defeat in the Gulfstream Park Turf. The son of Lookin At Lucky nearly became a Grade 1 winner in just his third start in this country and first in the U.S. on turf. Kurilov has raced most of his career in his native Chile.
“He ran terrific,” Brown said. “I don’t care how far they’re running, if you let a horse like Heart to Heart get away in front easy like that, a true Grade 1 horse like him, he’s always going to beat you, even if he’s going a mile and a half. But I’m really pleased with my horse, switching him to the turf. It gives me a lot of options at a mile and oneeighth to a mile and one-quarter the rest of the year, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Kurilov’s performance was just a prelude to Brown’s day on Saturday. He came right back to send out Elysea’s World and Dream Awhile to finish first and second in the Grade 3 Suwannee River.
Lewis Bay tops Royal Delta
Brown also figures to hold the upper hand in the only graded stakes on the schedule this week when he brings Lewis Bay back as the favorite in Monday’s Grade 3 Royal Delta.
Lewis Bay returned from a 13-month layoff to register a 1 1/4-length victory over Curlin’s Approval in the Grade 3 Rampart here in December. Curlin’s Approval is also pointing to the one-mile Royal Delta, as is Unbridled Mo, who has not started since capturing the Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland in April.
Lewis Bay worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 at Palm Meadows on Sunday.
“She’s doing super,” Brown said. “Off the layoff, she even exceeded my expectations how terrific she ran, and we’ve given her a good spacing between that race and this one coming off such a big win.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher acknowledges going up against Lewis Bay and Curlin’s Approval will be a formidable task for Unbridled Mo in her first start since the spring.
“She’s a very accomplished horse, so it’s hard to cherry-pick too many easy spots coming back off the layoff,” Pletcher said. “A one-turn mile is a good place to get going for her.”
Big day for Pletcher
Pletcher had a big day Sunday with his promising older horses You’re to Blame and Hedge Fund, both of whom turned in strong efforts winning optionalclaiming races at 1 1/16 miles.
The Grade 3-placed You’re to Blame matched a careerhigh Beyer Speed Figure of 93 winning the fifth race in wireto-wire fashion over the speedfavoring main track.
“From the rail, we wanted to establish some early position, figuring if he made the lead that would be ideal, and he did,” Pletcher said. “He likes two turns and we’ll probably stick to that, although unfortunately there are no two-turn [stakes] options left here this meet.”
The multiple graded stakesplaced Hedge Fund used a similar modus operandi to win his first-level allowance condition an hour or so later while making his first start since May. Hedge Fund, a son of Super Saver, posted a careerhigh Beyer of 95.
◗ A six-day race week begins Wednesday with an 11-race program topped by a $44,000 first-level optional claimer at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf for statebred fillies and mares. Bitacora will be favored in the race, the fifth leg of a Rainbow 6 sequence that opens with a carryover of more than $616,000.