Track Phantom, Hall of Fame may go their separate ways

While Track Phantom and Hall of Fame worked five furlongs together on March 3 at Fair Grounds, the two Steve Asmussen-trained colts may or may not be racing together March 23 in the $1 million Louisiana Derby.

Track Phantom, winner of the Gun Runner and Lecomte Stakes during this Fair Grounds meet but most recently second to Sierra Leone in the Feb. 17 Risen Star, has been pointed at the Louisiana Derby since he showed connections he’d come out of the Risen Star in good physical condition. Track Phantom, with those two recent stakes wins atop his résumé, was a 3-1 shot in the Risen Star, while Hall of Fame, merely coming off a secondstart maiden win, was 7-2.

Held in high regard, Hall of Fame didn’t run to expectations, checking in seventh. Nonetheless, Asmussen and the colt’s owners are eschewing allowance-race options, including a first-level dirt route in the Fair Grounds condition book for March 13.

“I was very happy with his work,” Asmussen said. “Don’t know where he’s going yet, but it’ll be a stake.”

Asmussen said Hall of Fame was more relaxed in the March 3 breeze than he’d been in workouts last fall and earlier this winter. Hall of Fame raced on a fast pace in his maiden win, which produced a strong 94 Beyer Speed Figure, but in the slow-paced Risen Star, he found himself trapped behind and among rivals while racing over a sloppy surface. At this stage of his career, Hall of Fame, by Gun Runner, probably would prefer a free-running trip.

Track Phantom had things his way in the Risen Star, setting a slow pace but was still unable to contain late-running Sierra Leone, who bested him by a half-length. Track Phantom improved through last fall, but his last four Beyers have ranged between 88 and 90, hinting the colt hit a plateau.

“I had a lot of faith in him, and we got outrun with everything in our favor” in the Risen Star, Asmussen said. “It’s within him to run better than that.”

Risen Star winner Sierra Leone is headed to the Blue Grass, as is another Fair Grounds-based colt, the Kenny McPeek-trained Lat Long, most recently an improved third in the Jan. 24 Lecomte. Lat Long worked March 3, going five furlongs in 1:02.40, while his McPeek-trained stablemate Mystik Dan went a half in 48.40 the same day.

Mystik Dan, sharp winner of the Feb. 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, remains on target for the Arkansas Derby, but McPeek said Common Defense, a fine second to Blue Grass hopeful Timberlake in the Feb. 24 Rebel, will run in the Louisiana Derby with Brian Hernandez Jr. riding. McPeek also has Risen Star eighth-place finisher Real Men Violin aimed at the Louisiana Derby.

Meanwhile, trainer Brad Cox said Wednesday that Catching Freedom, third in the Risen Star, is all but certain to start in the Louisiana Derby under Flavien Prat. Nash, second in the Lecomte, third in the Gun Runner, and second to the talented Tuscan Sky in a Feb. 17 Fair Grounds allowance race, also could wind up in the Louisiana Derby, Cox said. Nash and Catching Freedom both worked March 3.

Honor Marie gallops out strong

Kentucky Jockey Club winner

Honor Marie had his first work on Feb. 29 since finishing fifth in the Risen Star, going four furlongs in 48.60 while working inside the fast debut maiden winner Drip, his usual breeze partner. While the Oaklawn Park-based Rafael Bejarano has ridden Honor Marie in his four starts, Florent Geroux was up for the recent drill.

Recorded as a half-mile, the drill included an energetic gallop-out down the backstretch, where Honor Marie, outworked to the wire by the flashier Drip, finished up strongly.

“It was pretty much a pictureperfect work for him,” trainer Whit Beckman said. “He’s never been the prettiest mover, but the longer he goes, the stronger he looks. He came out

of that last race so good. I’m really excited about him.”

– Marcus Hersh

Battaglia top two on upswing

Encino and Epic Ride, who earned Kentucky Derby points by running one-two in last Saturday’s John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park, have blossomed this winter at the Florence, Ky., track, with neither finishing worse than second in nascent careers that began in December.

However, they are not yet confirmed to move forward to the Grade 3, $700,000 Jeff Ruby, Turfway’s signature Kentucky Derby prep that has returned to prominence in recent years.

Godolphin homebred Encino, making his third career start and stakes debut in the Battaglia, got a perfect trip from an outside post and drove past favored Epic Ride in the lane for a one-length win. The Brad Cox trainee earned a careerhigh Beyer Speed Figure of 89, improving more than 20 points from his maiden win – and picked up 20 points toward a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate.

The Battaglia was the final local prep toward the March 23 Ruby, which awards Derby points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale. Since the prep was first run on a synthetic track in 2006, the only horse to win both it and the Derby has been Animal Kingdom, in 2011.

Turfway switched from Polytrack to Tapeta before the 2020-21 meet, and the most recent editions of the prep series have been influential. Rich Strike was third in the 2022 Ruby, drew into the Derby as an also-eligible, and pulled off the second-biggest upset in the history of the classic. Two Phil’s won last year’s JeffRuby, then was a gallant second in the Kentucky Derby.

Assistant trainer Tessa Walden, who oversees Cox’s string at Turfway, noted that the track played a part in the championship campaign of Idiomatic last season. The decision of whether to try Encino in a dirt prep race or to remain local for the Ruby will be up to Cox.

“Brad might want to try running him on a different surface – or he might go ahead and say, ‘Well, he’s had consistency here and he’s in his wheelhouse, let’s try to take the back door into the Derby.’ We’ll see,” Walden said. “We had Idiomatic last year, did some training on Caravel here, we’ve had Tawny Port here – we’ve had some good horses here . . . . It probably does depend on the horse somewhat, but I feel like they’re not lacking any fitness edge leaving here to go to dirt.”

Epic Ride, who earned 10 Derby points in the Battaglia, won the Leonatus Stakes at Turfway by four lengths in front-running fashion before stalking the pace and finishing second in the Battaglia.

“I thought it was a good learning experience for him,” said trainer John Ennis, noting that under the conditions of the race, Epic Ride carried 124 pounds to Encino’s 118. “The mile and a sixteenth seemed to be fine.”

While Encino will be considered for the 1 1/8-mile Ruby, Ennis is inclined to wait for the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass, at the same distance on dirt April 6 at Keeneland.

“I’d probably side with the Blue Grass because we’ll be all level weights,” Ennis said. “I think he’s a nice horse. We won’t make any decisions yet, but that’s what I’m thinking right now.”

Both colts have pedigrees that suggest dirt isn’t out of their wheelhouse – Encino, in particular. He is by 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, sire of two-turn dirt Grade 1 winners Vequist, Slow Down Andy, and Randomized. Encino’s dam, Glittering Jewel, by classic winner and outstanding broodmare sire Bernardini, is a half-sister to 2007 Derby winner Street Sense.

Epic Ride is by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame, a versatile sire responsible for dirt two-turn Grade 1 winners Nadal and Wet Paint, but also Grade 1-winning sprinter Marley’s Freedom and French classic winner Senga. Broodmare sire Gio Ponti, unsurprisingly, has produced most of his graded stakes winners on turf, but his top runner is champion sprinter Drefong.

– Nicole Russo

COADY PHOTOGRAPHY Mystik Dan wins the Southwest by eight lengths. He is on schedule for the Arkansas Derby.