Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Plan set for World Approval
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – First a short trip, followed by a much longer one.
World Approval will trek across the Florida peninsula to Tampa Bay Downs to run in the Grade 3 Tampa Stakes on Feb. 10 ahead of an overseas trip to Dubai, trainer Mark Casse confirmed. World Approval, a 2017 Eclipse Award finalist for Horse of the Year and older turf male, will run in the $6 million Dubai Turf on March 31 at Meydan.
Bred and owned by the Live Oak Plantation of Charlotte, the gray 6-year-old gelding won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in his most recent start to lift his career bankroll to $2,937,363.
After getting a couple months off at Live Oak in Ocala, Fla., World Approval was sent this week to the Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla., where Casse’s son and assistant, Norman, oversees many of the stable’s top horses. Other notable Palm Meadows arrivals for Casse this week included Holding Gold, Salty, La Coronel, and Dream Dancing.
The $175,000 Tampa Stakes, set for 1 1/16 miles on turf, joins a Kentucky Derby points race, the Sam F. Davis, among four stakes on Feb. 10, the first major date of the 2017-18 Tampa meet.
Leavem in Malibu to Pegasus?
Trainer Mark Casse said Leavem in Malibu was scheduled to breeze this weekend at Palm Meadows to determine whether he will be among 12 starters in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup here Jan. 27.
“There’s a good possibility that we’ll have him in the Pegasus,” Casse said. “We’re looking to close a deal.”
Owned by Gary Barber and Conrad Farms, Leavem in Malibu is a 5-year-old Ontariobred horse with 12 starts. His lone stakes win came in his last start, the Grade 3 Valedictory over the Woodbine synthetic last month, and his lone dirt attempt resulted in a runner-up finish in the 2016 Prince of Wales.
“He really loves the dirt,” Casse said.
As of Friday, nine are confirmed for the Pegasus: Gun Runner, Collected, West Coast, Stellar Wind, Seeking the Soul, Gunnevera, Toast of New York, War Story, and Giant Expectations. Besides Leavem in Malibu, the other possible entrants include Sharp Azteca, Game Over, Fear the Cowboy, and Giuseppe the Great. Entries will be taken Jan. 24.
Game Over, who like War Story is owned by Loooch Racing, earned a bullet Thursday at Gulfstream West when going a half-mile in 48.40 over a fast track.
McCraken readies for new season
Trainer Ian Wilkes said he is expecting McCraken to arrive this week at Palm Meadows to begin preparing for a 4-yearold campaign that will focus primarily “on races of about a mile.”
McCraken has been on hiatus at Lambholm South near Ocala, Fla., since shortly after Wilkes decided not to run him in the Nov. 24 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. His final start at 3 resulted in a distant third-place finish in the Oct. 28 Fayette at Keeneland.
“I haven’t really thought about where to start him back, other than to try him as a miler,” said Wilkes, whose stable is currently split among Palm Meadows, Tampa, and Fair Grounds. “I was happy to give him a break because he deserved one. He’d been going strong since the summer of his 2-year-old year.”
McCraken, bred and owned by Whitham Thoroughbreds, has won five of his 10 starts and $722,228.
Fly So High eyes Davona Dale
A 5 1/2-length romp in a firstlevel allowance here Thursday likely will catapult Fly So High into the ranks of graded stakes company.
Trainer Shug McGaughey said he will consider the Grade 2 Davona Dale, a one-mile race on March 3, as a next start for Fly So High, a 3-year-old Malibu Moon filly purchased for $675,000 as a yearling by the Phipps Stable.
Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Fly So High cruised past My Favorite Gift to win the one-mile race without much urging, earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for the second straight start.
“We’d like to think she wants to go longer,” McGaughey said.
The Davona Dale also is the likely next start for Road to Victory, the Casse-trained filly whose 2-for-2 record includes the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill in November.
One allowance for Sunday
The nominal Sunday feature at Gulfstream is a $51,000 firstlevel allowance with no clearcut favorite among eight older horses going a mile on turf. It’s the ninth of 11 races on a card that starts at noon Eastern.
The feature is part of a Rainbow 6 sequence spanning races 6 to 11. Into Friday, the rollover jackpot stood at a whopping $1,004,785. The Rainbow 6 has not been swept by a solo winner since Dec. 7.
After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark for two days before another five-day week resumes Wednesday.
◗ A trio of graded stakes is set for Saturday, with the Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Lauderdale for older turf horses being the richest. Also on tap are the Grade 3, $150,000 Marshua’s River and the Grade 3, $100,000 Skip Away.