Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
DERBY DREAMS
OUTADORE SWITCHES TO DIRT FOR SPRINGBOARD MILE HOPING TO CHASE CLASSIC,
Outadore and Cowan will attempt to hit pay dirt Friday night when both Breeders’ Cup runners switch to the main track for the $200,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park.
And, the dirt offers more than just a sizable paycheck. The first four finishers in the Springboard Mile will earn Kentucky Derby eligibility points on a sliding scale of 10-4-2-1.
The Springboard Mile is the richest of six stakes on a 13-race program that has a special first post of 5 p.m. Central. A field of 11 is signed on for the main event, including local stakes winners Game Day Play and Number One Dude.
Outadore exits the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, a race in which he finished third Nov. 6 at Keeneland. The son of Outwork, who races for Breeze Easy LLC, was then targeted for the Springboard.
“The owners, their dreams are to go to the Derby,” said Wesley Ward, who trains Outadore. “They just kind of want to see if he runs equally well on the dirt as he does on the grass.
“I’m really looking forward to getting him on the dirt, see if he likes it. He’s had some outstanding breezes on dirt – and grass as well.”
Ward said one reason Outadore has raced exclusively on turf is because he felt the surface would be kinder on the horse after he overcame shin issues early in the year. Outadore won his debut in a maiden special weight July 26 at Saratoga, and one start later accounted for the $500,000 Juvenile Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs.
Outadore then set the pace on good ground in the one-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He will break from post 9 on Friday.
“We’re talking the blinkers off, so that usually helps them kind of settle a little bit,” Ward said. “He drew a good post for him. If somebody wants to go, then we’ll let them go.”
David Cabrera has the mount on Outadore.
“We’re lucky to get him, the leading rider,” Ward said.
Cowan was second by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 6 at Keeneland.
“He needed a couple more jumps,” trainer
Steve Asmussen said.
Cowan is now back on dirt, where he won his debut in a maiden special weight in May at Churchill Downs and finished an uncharacteristic fifth in the Ellis Park Juvenile in August.
“I think he deserved the opportunity,” Asmussen said of the return to dirt. “Nothing went right for him in the Ellis Juvenile. After that, we were wanting something to be available to run in at Kentucky Downs because of the purses and his sire having success on the turf. We thought he was a good prospect for that.”
Cowan is by Kantharos, and Asmussen noted the sire has had such horses as World of Trouble, a Grade 1 winner on both turf and dirt.
“A couple of those horses are very versatile,” he said of the stallion’s top offspring. “That’s why we tried him on the turf.”
Cowan’s turf debut came in the Juvenile
Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs where he finished third to Outadore. Cowan proceeded to run second in the $150,000 Indian Summer on Oct. 4 at Keeneland in a performance that landed him in the Breeders’ Cup.
As for the move to two turns, Asmussen, who leads the standings at Remington, feels good about the added ground Friday. “I think he’ll get the mile,” he said. Stewart Elliott has the mount from post 8 for Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Madaket Stables, and Spendthrift Farm.
Number One Dude puts a perfect 3-for-3 record on the line – with all his wins coming against Oklahoma-breds at Remington. The two-time stakes winner is coming off a six-length victory at a mile in the $75,000 Don McNeill on Nov. 13.
“Everything at Remington has gone perfectly fine,” trainer Kari Craddock said. “He’s a nice colt. He’s a nice 2-yearold, and if we’re ever going to try outside of the [statebred ranks], let’s do it here, on the racetrack that he’s won three on.”
Ezequiel Lara has the mount from post 2. “There’s plenty of speed in the race,” Craddock said. “We should be closer. We’ll just wait and see what happens. He’ll do anything the jockey wants him to do.”
Game Day Play won the local Springboard Mile prep, the Clever Trevor.