Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Irish War Cry faces solid field
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Irish War Cry may be the marquee name in the field, but the likely favorite figures to have his work cut out if he’s to make his much-anticipated return to Gulfstream Park a winning one in Saturday’s $100,000 Hal’s Hope.
The Grade 3 Hal’s Hope is one of two stakes on a marathon 13-race program, which also includes the $75,000 Texas Glitter on the turf.
Irish War Cry, who gained national recognition with his scintillating 3 3/4-length victory here a year ago in the Grade 2 Holy Bull, will face seven rivals in the one-mile Hal’s Hope. The field includes key contenders such as Grade 1-placed Economic Model, Todd Pletcher-trained graded stakes winners Malagacy and Send It In, and the speedy Conquest Big E.
The main event also features the main track debut of Tower of Texas. Giussepe the Great and Quijote complete the competitive lineup.
The enigmatic Irish War Cry followed his breakout performance in the Holy Bull with a head-scratching seventh-place finish as the overwhelming favorite in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth four weeks later. He bounced back to win the Grade 1 Wood and finish second in the Belmont Stakes, but has not started since another disappointing outing five months ago in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby.
“He’s been working super and he appears to me to have physically grown up to be a lot bigger and a stronger version of what he was last year. And his brother really improved from 3 to 4, so I’m hoping it’s a trait that runs in the family,” trainer Graham Motion said referring to Irish War Cry’s full brother Irish Strait, whom he also trained. “But he also ran both his best race and his worst race over this track, so you never know. But it seems like the logical spot to bring him back, and I have a gut feeling this [a oneturn mile] is his real deal.”
Irish War Cry will break from the rail with Jose Ortiz aboard for the first time.
Pletcher is looking for Malagacy to improve off his last start, when he finished second as the 3-5 favorite in a six-furlong optional-claiming event here Jan. 19. The outing was his first since a fifth-place finish behind Classic Empire in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby nine months early.
“I was happy enough with his effort last time. He’s come back with some good breezes since then. [He] should appreciate the stretch-out, and I expect him to maybe benefit from the race,” Pletcher said.
Like Irish War Cry, Malagacy ran arguably the best race of his 3-year-old campaign locally, winning a first-level optional claimer last winter by seven lengths while earning what is still a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure.
Pletcher also entered Send It In, who will make his first start since receiving a whopping 119 Beyer capturing the Grade 3 Excelsior going 1 1/4 miles last April at Aqueduct.
“A mile might be a tick short of his absolute best, but he needs to get started somewhere, and if he can repeat that 119 Beyer he ran last time, he might be all right,” Pletcher said with a smile.
Economic Model is coming off a winning effort that came more than four months ago in a high-priced optional-claiming test going a mile at Belmont Park. That victory was the first in eight starts for Economic Model, who was Grade 1-placed when second behind Drefong in the 2016 King’s Bishop at Saratoga.
Economic Model has been keeping good company of late in the morning as the regular workmate for 2-year-old champion Good Magic.
Conquest Big E is coming off a big effort of his own, finishing a troubled second, beaten less than a length by Tommy Macho, in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper, also at a mile, here four weeks ago. Conquest Big E showed a new dimension that day after hopping at the start by rallying wide and from off the pace before falling narrowly short of springing the upset. Trainer Donna Green will make a significant jockey change for the Hal’s Hope, handing the reins over to the meet’s leading rider, Luis Saez, on Saturday.