Imperial Hint ready for return Sunday in Florida Cup Sprint

Imperial Hint will make his eagerly awaited return to action Sunday as the marquee name among six statebred races that make up the 16th annual Florida Cup at Tampa Bay Downs.

Initially intended for the Dubai Golden Shaheen, Imperial Hint instead is expected to face the likes of Delta Bluesman and Mo Cash in the Florida Cup Sprint, one of six $100,000 stakes for Florida-breds at the Oldsmar, Fla., track. Trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. hopes to use the Sprint as a tightener for Imperial Hint’s first major goal of 2018, the Grade 2 Churchill Downs on the May 5 Kentucky Derby undercard.

“He is doing fantastic,” said Carvajal. “He got a little virus and we lost time with him, so we couldn’t make the trip to Dubai. But he is very good now and we hope he will run like he usually does Sunday.”

Imperial Hint has earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in his last six starts, including a 109 when second to divisional champion Roy H in his most recent start, the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar. The 5-year-old horse is owned by Raymond Mamone. Javier Castellano, who rode Imperial Hint in his last three starts, will be in from Gulfstream Park for the mount.

The Florida Cup events will be the last stakes run at Tampa until a pair of Florida-bred races on the final weekend of the meet, May 5. The other Sunday races are the Turf Classic and Distaff Turf, which like the Sprint are for older horses, and three races for 3-year-olds: the Sophomore, the Sophomore Fillies, and the Sophomore Turf.

Meaningful win for Kaelin

Trainer Forrest Kaelin and his wife, Betty, have wintered off and on in Tampa since 1956, when the track was known as Sunshine Park and Forrest was still a jockey. The couple enjoyed quite a sentimental victory here Sunday when My Monkey captured the fifth race, for maiden claimers, at an $18 mutuel.

My Monkey, a dark bay 3-year-old filly, is named in honor of the couple’s late granddaughter Ashley King, who died at age 32 in a car crash in Louisiana six years ago. Another granddaughter, Brittany King, bred the filly.

Ashley “was the first one to start calling me ‘Monkey,’” Betty Kaelin told Tampa publicity, “and everybody else started doing it after that. I know Ashley is up there smiling right now. For this filly to win today is like a million dollars. It’s like winning the Kentucky Derby for us.”

Forrest Kaelin, 83, has been in frail health in recent months but still soldiers through his ailments to make regular appearances at his barn, which is adjacent to the racing office in the far corner of the Tampa backstretch.

Battle for leading trainer

A fierce battle atop the trainer standings has unfolded at the 2017-18 meet, with Kathleen O’Connell maintaining a 32-30 lead over Gerald Bennett, the perennial local kingpin who has steadily chipped away at the margin in recent weeks. Into Wednesday, Bennett had sent out 163 starters to O’Connell’s 136.

Among jockeys, Antonio Gallardo continues to lead Daniel Centeno by a 77-67 margin, with Samy Camacho emerging as a clear-cut third with 50 wins.

◗ Noble Thought is listed as a 4-5 program favorite by Tampa linemaker John Rose for the Wednesday feature, a $24,500 third-level allowance. The onemile turf race splits the card as the fifth of nine races on a program that starts at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

◗ Unlike at Gulfstream Park across the peninsula, there will be no racing at Tampa on April 1 because of the Easter holiday.