Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Pirate’s Punch hangs tough
Pirate’s Punch would seem to have a bright future as a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Girvin, and suggested as much in his stakes debut earlier this month when he finished a gutsy third in the Grade 3, $300,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.
The next stop could be the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 29 at Remington Park, according to trainer Grant Forster.
Pirate’s Punch won back-toback starts coming into the Super Derby, including a firstlevel allowance Aug. 3 at Indiana Grand. He set quick fractions in the Super Derby while under pressure from Grade 1 winner Knicks Go and finished a length behind winner Rotation. Pirate’s Punch earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 89.
“He did the hard work and kept on fighting to the end,” Forster said. “We were really, really pleased with how he ran. It was a big step up in class.
“He’s a horse that just seems like he’s improving by the minute.”
Robby Albarado was aboard Pirate’s Punch and has a tie to the horse’s family, Forster noted.
“Robby won the Haskell on Girvin,” he said.
Pirate’s Punch is now back home in Kentucky.
“Initially, we thought the Oklahoma Derby might be too much with the shipping and the heat and as hard as he ran, but he’s come out of the race so well it’s a possibility,” Forster said. “We’ll look at the field, see how he acts over the next couple of weeks.”
The other alternative would be an allowance at Keeneland, Forster said.
Pirate’s Punch is owned by Gulliver Racing, Craig W. Drager, and Dan Legan. He started his career in Southern California and came to Kentucky this spring with trainer Jeff Mullins, winning a maiden race in July at Ellis Park.
“When Jeff Mullins moved back to Del Mar for the summer, the owners wanted to keep the horse in Kentucky to see how he’d develop off that win,” Forster said. “I was fortunate to be the one they called.”
Pirate’s Punch, who is by Shanghai Bobby, is a halfbrother to Grade 3 winner Cocked and Loaded.
In the Navy targets Remington
In the Navy ran the race of his career earlier this month when he stepped outside the Louisiana-bred ranks and powered to a 3 1/2-length win in the $60,000 Frank L. Brothers on the undercard of the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. Now, he’s headed to Oklahoma.
Trainer Scott Gelner said In the Navy is being pointed to the $100,000 Remington Green, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-yearolds and up on Sept. 29. It will be run on the undercard of the Oklahoma Derby.
“The first place he ever won on the turf was Remington,” Gelner said.
Since that score on Sept. 21, 2017, In the Navy has become a multiple stakes winner. In the Navy registered his first stakes win in the $60,000 Louisiana Cup Turf Classic for statebreds in 2018 at Louisiana Downs. He set the pace and increased his advantage to the wire in the Brothers, covering the 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in a blazing 1:40.51 and earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 90.
“He ran a bang up race,” Gelner said.
The score came after three near misses in stakes in Louisiana. In those races, he was beaten a total of a length.
“He was just kind of unlucky three outs in a row,” Gelner said.
Floyd Wethey Jr. rode In the Navy for the first time in the Brothers and will have the mount in the Remington Green, Gelner said. Wethey is based at Remington.
In the Navy is a 5-year-old by Midshipman who races for his breeder, Ken Standlee.
Gelner could have an additional starter at Remington on Oklahoma Derby Day. He said She’s Our Fastest is possible for the $50,000 Flashy Lady Stakes. The race for fillies and mares will be run at the same six-furlong distance over which she won the $50,000 Valor Farm Stakes in July at Lone Star Park.
Tiz Plus to Remington Green
Tiz Plus, who has won his last four races, is being pointed to the Remington Green, according to his trainer, Mindy Willis.
Tiz Plus won the local allowance prep for the Remington Green Sept. 5. The 3-year-old was facing older and rallied for a 1 1/2-length win over twotime Remington Green winner Turbo Street. Tiz Plus earned a career-high Beyer of 86.
“We’re thrilled with the way he gets better every race – just seems to, anyway,” Willis said. “Every time we take another step up the ladder, he steps up.”
Tiz Plus started his streak in May, when he won a conditioned allowance route on turf at Lone Star. He won another such race at the track in June before shipping to Santa Rosa in Northern California and capturing the off-the-turf Robert Dupret Derby in August. Tiz Plus’s owner, Bronte Marshall, lives in Santa Rosa.
“He asked if there was any chance to run him out there,” Willis said.
The $55,000 Dupret Derby was a fit, and for it Willis made arrangements to send the horse to her good friend, Californiabased trainer Manny Badilla. Tiz Plus then returned home to Willis and captured the local prep for the Remington Green under Stewart Elliott – who was the regular rider of his dam’s sire, Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones.
Willis has one other turf runner pointing to a Sept. 29 stakes at Remington. She said Texas Belle is a candidate for the $75,000 Ricks Memorial for fillies and mares. Texas Belle won a stakes in March at Sam Houston.