Catapult should fire this time

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Catapult won the last turf stakes of 2016 on the New York Racing Association circuit when he took the Gio Ponti Stakes at Aqueduct by 1 1/4 lengths. On Sunday, Catapult will try to win New York’s first turf stakes of 2017 in the $100,000 Danger’s Hour Stakes at Aqueduct.

Eight were entered in the Danger’s Hour, though Greenpoint crusader was entered for the main track only. The weekend forecast called for dry weather.

Catapult, a son of Kitten’s Joy trained by Chad Brown, is making his second start of the year in the Danger’s Hour, run at one mile. On Feb. 11, Catapult finished fourth as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

“He didn’t ship well,” said Brown, who sent the horse from Palm Meadows to Tampa. “He got himself worked up, and in the paddock, he got worse, and by the time he loaded in the gate, he was quite washed out. He didn’t fire. He’s a better horse than that. Hopefully, he handles himself better this time around.”

Catapult has improved since Brown added blinkers to the colt’s equipment last year. From four starts with blinkers, he has two wins and a narrow loss when third in the English Channel Stakes.

Macagone returns to Aqueduct, where he has won three of four starts, including last year’s Danger’s Hour and last fall’s Artie Schiller, a race he won at odds of 34-1. Macagone will be dropping into a listed stakes after two noncompetitive efforts in graded company at Gulfstream. He did have trouble in the Canadian Stakes, where he finished last of nine.

Gold Shield, a 5-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro trained by Shug McGaughey, makes his stakes debut in the Danger’s Hour. He won a second-level allowance going 1 1/16 miles at Tampa on March 11. He is cutting back to a mile, which McGaughey doesn’t think will be his best distance.

“I think he’s a lot sounder now than he’s ever been,” McGaughey said. “He trained really well over the winter. A mile is not his deal, but there wasn’t really anyplace else to run him. I didn’t want to take him to Keeneland and run him a mile and a half off one race. This looks like the right kind of spot for him, and if he runs back to the way he trained, even going a mile, he’ll be pretty formidable.”

Timeline to Peter Pan?

Timeline may have earned himself a spot in the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan at Belmont Park on May 13 with an eyecatching 13 1/2-length romp in the slop Thursday at Aqueduct.

Facing winners for the first time after winning a sevenfurlong maiden race at Gulfstream on March 4, Timeline stalked the pace for more than five-eighths of a mile before taking command in upper stretch and gliding away from the first-level allowance field.

Timeline, a son of Hard Spun, covered a mile in 1:36.95 and earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

“We were very impressed with his effort,” said Chad Brown, who trains Timeline for Woodford Racing. “He’s a horse we always liked, we always thought a lot of. Nice to see him developing the way he is. He’s an exciting horse moving forward.”

Brown said the Peter Pan, a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race, “is definitely a race we’re going to consider.”

Joking might return at Spa

Joking, the Grade 1-winning sprinter who got sick after shipping west last fall, forcing him to scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, has returned to the East Coast, but not yet the racetrack.

Joking, an 8-year-old gelding by Distorted Humor, has been turned out at Patty Hogan’s farm in central New Jersey, having arrived there about three weeks ago from Southern California, according to owner and trainer Charlton Baker. Joking will remain at the farm for up to three more weeks before rejoining Baker at Belmont Park.

Baker said he will try to get Joking ready for the Saratoga meet. Previously, Baker has said that Joking didn’t do well at Saratoga. But Baker said Friday that that had more to do with where he had been stabled than the racing surface. Baker said the barn he had last year was away from the hustle and bustle of Saratoga and would be suitable for Joking.

“He would get riled up from the traffic and the people walking around,” Baker said. “If he’s away from all that, he’s okay. Hopefully, I can get back to that same spot.”

Baker said Joking needs to put on more weight, but Hogan, a veterinarian, is helping in that process.

“Patty said she’s going to put some weight on him,” Baker said.

Stallwalkin’ Dude galloping

Stallwalkin’ Dude, sixth behind Mind Your Biscuits in the Dubai Golden Shaheen last month at Meydan, has resumed galloping and likely will resurface early in the Belmont Park spring-summer meet, trainer and co-owner David Jacobson said.

Stallwalkin’ Dude could run in the Diablo Stakes – he finished fifth behind Joking in that race last year – on May 7 or wait for the Grade 2, $250,000 True North on June 9.

Jacobson said the rail draw and a twisted right front shoe compromised Stallwalkin’ Dude’s chances in the Golden Shaheen, where he was beaten 5 1/2 lengths.

“We probably lost the race at the draw,” Jacobson said. “He had the 1 post, he got trapped in there, checked twice, blew a shoe, cut a hind leg – very rough trip.”